Friend of Mine
by KayKayeLLe
Summary: After Mary abandons Carlos and Charlie in New York, she flees back home to GlenOak. However, running away doesn't erase the problems that made her run in the first place. NANOWRIMO 2006
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Oh, NaNoWriMo 2006. This wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be, not as much of a struggle as I remembered, I must admit. However, it was by now means easy. I wrote about the 20,000 in four days, which sucked, but I was able to plow through.

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Now, pertinent information. This is supposed to be Season 8ish, but I think every time I mention anything in the way of time it's off. I had the hardest time figuring out what happened when on the actual show, how old people were supposed to be, who was living where, etc. After a while, I just completely stopped trying and just wrote with my first guess. I didn't want to waste the time sitting and figuring it all out.

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…Anyway. So. Mary and Carlos have not been married all that long. Wilson is married to Corey, and they haven't been married all that long. I want to say that they married somewhere around the same time probably, but don't hold me to that.

Oh, and word to the wise, this thing gets pretty ridiculous somewhere around 18,000 words, and does insanely down hill from there. Don't say I didn't warn. However, I guess those are just some of the joys of NaNo.

Disclaimer: Setting, characters, and events from the television show 7th Heaven are property of Brenda Hampton, probably still the late, great Aaron Spelling, Spelling Television and Paramount TV. "Caravan" belongs to Dodge Vehicles. Let me just list who's mine. Mrs. West is, kind of, sort of. Christine is. Various doctors (Dr. Perkins and Dr. Ward), attendants, nurses, and security people. Officer McMahon, Thomas, and the other one. The guy behind the counter at The Dairy Shack. And possibly others who I can't remember. Becca is a reference from my other story, well two, kind of. Especially do not touch her. Oh, and lastly, I guess I'll claim the bird, although that's more abstract but whatever. You'll see.

The title of the story come from the song by The Killers, "Jenny Was a Friend of Mine." The entire story was inspired by it. No, it does not follow the lyrics at all, really. They said "promenade," and from the first time I heard this I had a vision of Mary. Wilson came second. Then the rest of it.

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Finally, on to the story.

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**Friend of Mine**

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The Promenade was mostly empty on a blustery fall evening. It had been raining all day and the weather had finally begun to die down when wind gusts picked up. Wilson's wife begged him to go out for her and pick up the food she had ordered from the Dairy Shack before it had started to rain and, like the good husband he was, he obliged. He drove his black SUV down to the GlenOak Promenade fifteen minutes away from their house and parked his car. The Dairy Shack was at the other end of the outdoor market from the parking lot, requiring Wilson to walk past all of the shops.

When he opened the door to his car, the wind dragged it away from him. Luckily, there was no car parked on the driver's side. He pushed the door closed against the wind and locked his car via the button on his key. Wilson wrapped his olive-colored cotton jacket tighter around his body as the wind whipped around him. The things I do for my wife, he thought to himself. He spied The Dairy Shack in the distance and remarked to himself that it looked to be a lot farther than it was in reality.

He noticed that no one seemed to be around, probably due to the weather being awful and the fact that it was 7 o'clock on a Wednesday night. He wished that he were home like everyone else. At least at home it was warm. About halfway to his destination, he noticed there was a woman walking on the other side of the promenade. Her appearance struck him as odd- not her outer appearance, but they way she seemed to just "appear" in the middle of the walkway from thin air. She was not properly dressed for the late October weather, in only a t-shirt and some jeans. Her arms were folded on her chest and her medium length dark blonde hair blew in every direction.

Wilson continued to approach her as she reached up and pushed her hair off of her face and back behind her shoulder. The wind immediately blew her hair back in front of her, but in that brief second Wilson recognized her. Of course, it was Mary Camden... or Mary whoever-she-was-now. Wilson had heard through the grapevine that she had gotten married. Actually, he thought that his mother had told him. Anyway, he groaned at seeing her. It wasn't that he didn't _want_ to see her, it was just that he knew that she was going to invade his life. She had always done that in the past. He'd see her and she'd completely take over everything until he was beaten down and couldn't take it anymore.

He thought for a moment about not saying anything to her at all. He wondered if he could actually do that, just walk right past her and not speak. Wilson knew that was more than a little bit rude, but he couldn't risk it. Things with Corey had been on shaky ground for the past while and had just finally settled down. Take tonight for example. He was going out to get takeout for his family, not for himself because Corey was so mad at him that she refused to feed him and he was afraid he'd starve to death. Maybe Mary hadn't seen him. Maybe she wouldn't see him. Maybe he could just walk in, pick up his food, and walk back without ever being noticed.

Wilson would have been intrigued to know that in that brief second that Mary pushed her hair back, she had seen him. And, like Wilson, she groaned at the thought of having to speak to him. She didn't want to see anyone right now. That's why she just took off- took off from New York, took off from her parent's house now and came out to the Promenade in one heck of a fall storm. She didn't want to be seen, looked at, noticed, any of that stuff. She'd been feeling quite self-conscious as of late, and the last thing she needed was a now-married ex-boyfriend to run into her and be chipper when all she wanted was to sit and sulk in the murkiness of the current outside condition.

She sighed and continued walking forward, debating whether or not she should be the one to say hi or not. She tried so hard to muster up enough inner strength to be able to speak to him, but she just couldn't do it. Maybe he hadn't seen her. Maybe he wouldn't see her if he hadn't already. Maybe he won't speak to her at all. Oh, maybe the sky would open up and a cow would fall on her head. Of course he was going to greet her. It was the polite thing to do, and Wilson was all about the polite pleasantries of life.

Wilson steadily approached Mary- she on his left and he on hers. He tried to think up something as she drew nearer, but he couldn't come up with anything much better than a simple, 'Hello. How have you been?'

Mary was now within four feet of him. He had to say something.

"Mary?"

Every fiber of her being slinked down as she turned in his direction. "W-Wilson?" She attempted to control her hair. She assumed that she looked like a wind-torn mess, and that simply would not do. It seemed, though, that as soon as they began to speak the wind stopped. If you hadn't known how the weather was before, you might say it was a decent day- weather-wise anyway.

"I thought that was you." He smiled. "How've you been?"

"Um, well," she laughed nervously. "Fine; I've been fine."

"Well...good."

Mary knew he didn't know what he was expected to say. "And yourself?"

"Um, pretty good."

Mary looked down at his finger. Still had his ring on. "You ended up marrying Corey, didn't you?"

"Yeah." Wilson thought of something positive to say about that. "We, uh, we just moved into a new house. Well, more of a run-down duplex, but it does the job."

Mary fidgeted with her clothes. "Good for you."

"And didn't you get married?"

"Well, yeah, I did, and... and we're still- I mean, contrary to popular belief-" She looked down at her feet, thinking she was sounding like a bumbling idiot.

Wilson smiled sadly at her. He knew from the other end of the Promenade that something was wrong with Mary. "Mare, it's OK. Things aren't always perfect. Take me as an example if you-"

Wilson rambled on and on. Mary wanted to listen to him, she really did, but she just couldn't find it within herself to pay attention. Her concentration was shot, and she had just supposed that that was because of everything that was happening with her and Carlos, her moving out on him and everything that lead up to and followed that.

She heard Wilson speaking and wondered how he could be so open like that. Mary had grown very shy in the past few weeks, more so than she had ever been in the past. She used to be more of an "in-your-face" personality with a laid-back flair, but she'd come to loose that along the way with everything else.

"Well, I'm rambling now aren't I?" Mary smiled but couldn't look up. "I guess I should go. I'm picking up take-out, tonight's dinner. Corey's not much of a cook. Well, she is, but she hates cooking. Anyway, it was nice to see you again."

Finally, she met his gaze. "Yeah, you, too."

"And, um, our number's listed. If you're going to be in town for a while," which he sensed she was, "feel free to call if you'd like." He knew he shouldn't have, even more so after he extended the invitation to her. But he couldn't just walk away from her and not tell her to keep in touch. In some ways, he missed Mary for sheer companionship alone. Over the years, they had grown fairly close; Mary was always there when Wilson had really needed her. Still, Corey was going to kill him.

"Yeah, OK," she said, with no intentions of calling. How awkward would that be, calling your ex-boyfriend's, ex-fiancé's if you count those few hours when they were going to elope, house where he lives with his wife, your old high school chum, and saying you three should catch up. It was never going to happen. Maybe if Carlos was around... but then again, she wouldn't even be in GlenOak to run into Wilson had he been around her, or had she stayed around him.

Wilson stood there looking at her. Something wasn't right, something beyond or in addition to whatever marital problems she appeared to be having.

For the first time in over a week, she cracked a smile. "Go. Your food's going to get cold."

He smiled and shook his head at her playfully. He was happy to see that Mary hadn't changed, deep down inside. The fabric that made Mary 'Mary' was still there. "All right. Bye Mare."

"Bye."

Wilson turned in the direction of The Dairy Shack and continued forward. He grumbled to himself as he walked, angry that he had called her "Mare", and twice no less. He'd always used that as a term of endearment. Instead of 'honey' or 'baby', he'd use her nickname. Then Corey popped into his head, who was nickname-less by him. Sure, he could have shortened Corey to 'Core' like he had with Mary's name, but he didn't want to. He continued to grumble, but now grumbled about Corey and how she always made him do things for her. He had no intentions of going out to the Promenade tonight at all. As he pulled open the door to The Dairy Shack, he decided. If this not-100-chance encounter came back to bite him in the butt, he would blame Corey.

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A/N: I must admit, this first chapter came out pretty well. I'm actually pleased. I just reread the first few chapters, and they're not too shabby. Even the ones with more dialog. My beginnings always end up balanced for some reason, more balanced than other part of my story.

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48, 500 more words of this one. Review and tell me if you'll stick with it that long.

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	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Well, since I received such an overwhelming response to chapter one (insert sarcasm here), here's chapter two. That makes it sound lie I'm bitter. I'm not, I swear. Eh, whatever.

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Wilson sighed heavily as he pushed open the door to his house. He turned around, closed it, and then went into the dining room where Corey, Billy, and Bernadette were sitting and waiting patiently for their food. He smiled at his son, glanced over and Corey, and began to dish out the burgers and fries. Some meal this was.

"Thank you," Corey said just before she bit down on her food.

"What?" He was shocked.

"I said 'thank you'. Thank you for going and getting the food."

What a pleasant surprise. "You're welcome."

The budding family ate together, munching on their charbroiled burgers and buns topped with sesame seeds. Bernadette sat next to Corey on their side of the rectangular table and Billy sat next to Wilson on theirs. The idea of the "blended family" wasn't exactly true in their household. Sure, they were together, and Billy and Bernadette seemed to get along famously, but Wilson didn't have much of a relationship with Bernadette at all, same with Corey and Billy. Actually, the situation they had was perfectly fine with Wilson. He didn't care much for the idea of discipline someone else's child, just as he wouldn't want Corey to really discipline Billy. He loved her, but it still wasn't her place.

"So..." Corey said. She was adamant about having dinner conversation.

Wilson smiled at her. "Yes?"

"Let's see. How was work today?"

He smirked. "Fine. Just as fine as it was when you asked me when I came home today."

Corey stuck her tongue out at him and Wilson just grinned.

"Hey," Bernadette said. "You always tell me not to stick my tongue out. How come you can do it?" Bernadette was eight and half years old, which she often reminded Billy of since he was only eight and one month. The platinum blonde hair she had had as a young child was quickly turning to a shade of darker, more golden blonde that resembled her mother's.

"I'm sorry. I won't stick my tongue out again."

"Good," said Bernadette.

"Dad used to let me stick my tongue out," Billy said as he dipped some fries in the ketchup blob on the wrapper of his hamburger.

"No, I didn't."

"Yeah, that one time, I-"

Wilson just rolled his eyes at his son. Billy had a story for everything, and still hadn't mastered the concept of keeping some things private. Still, as bothersome as Billy could be to Wilson, Wilson knew that Billy was just a smart boy for his age with a lot on his mind. He's had more experiences than most eight-year-olds, and won't let anyone around him forget it.

"So what are we doing this weekend?" Bernadette asked.

"Well," Corey answered, turning toward Wilson, "Grandma said she'd watch you and Billy so Wilson and I could go out."

Wilson nearly choked on his fries. For one thing, they didn't have the money to go out. They barely had enough money to afford to move out of Corey's mothers house, and that was no joke. They were barely scraping by. Secondly, Corey's mother hated Wilson because he was out of work for a few months after they first got married. She thought that he was a slacker and treated him as such. "Um, what about Saturday?" Wilson chimed in. He'd have to talk to Corey about this later.

"Um, I don't know," she responded. "Do you kids have anything you want to do?"

"I wanted to go to the park to play soccer with Dad," Billy said.

"OK," Wilson responded. "As long as the field's not too wet from all this rain."

"'K."

The young family finished their meal within a few minutes and each helped in the clearing of the table. The wrappers, napkins, and ketchup packets were placed in the trash and the glasses in the sink. Corey and Wilson were standing alone in their small kitchen when Billy and Bernadette retired to their bedroom- a singular room that was divided in two with a sheet where they could do their homework.

"So, you want to go out on Friday?" Wilson started.

"Yeah. I thought it would be good for us. We've been with just the kids for three weeks and I think we could use some time alone."

"I hate to be a kill joy," Wilson said, "but we don't really have the money to go out."

"Yeah, I was thinking that, but-"

Wilson knew that if he didn't come up with some other alternative he would end up having to spend $50 on Friday night that they needed to pay important outstanding bills- most importantly their rent. "How about we just get rid of the kids, then, and spend the night in?"

She thought it over, and only barely liked the idea. "I guess so."

"And...not to offend you or anything," Wilson said placing his hands on Corey's arms and feeling the coldness of her skin on his palms, "but my mom's been dying to see Billy."

"OK. Well, my mom's wanted to see Bernadette. She says the house feels empty. So?" Corey wasn't really understanding.

"So...maybe Bernadette could go to your mom's for the night and Billy could go to mine," Wilson said cautiously.

"Do you have a problem with my mother?" Corey threw her hands onto her hips, pushing Wilson's hands off of her in the process.

"No. No, no, no, honey. Not at all." He took her right hand and rubbed his thumb over her fingers.

"Then does Billy have a problem with my mom?"

"Well, no, except for the fact that she insists on calling him Wilson Junior."

"It's cute."

"...But it bothers him."

Corey sighed. "I know. I used to call Bernadette 'Bernie', but my mother put a stop to that." She smiled quietly at Wilson. "You know, that's fine. I'll just tell my mom and then you can call yours. Then we'll have the house all to ourselves." She leaned against Wilson and rubbed her head on his shoulder.

"Sounds good."

Corey leaned against him for a few more moments before speaking again. "Is something else bothering you? Did I do something?"

"No, you didn't do anything."

"Then is something bothering you?" she asked again.

Wilson thought for a second, deep down in his heart. He remembered seeing Mary at the Promenade a few hours before. She seemed kind of lost and confused. And, no matter how much he didn't want it to get to him, it did. In the past, she'd always gotten to him. That was even something he had grown to resent about her more than love. What he was less sure about was if he should tell Corey or not. He knew that it would most likely upset her, but he just couldn't take lying to her. He wasn't the type of husband, or, for that matter, the type of man, to do that.

"You were fine before you left," Corey continued.

Wilson figured that if she was able to pinpoint it down to when it happened then he had to tell her. It was only right. "I ran into someone when I was going to get the food."

"Anyone I know?"

"Yes, actually. Mary Camden." He sucked in his breath and awaited her response.

"Oh."

Oh? he though. That's all she had to say was 'oh'?

"She's married, isn't she? You told me that she'd gotten married."

Knowing that he shouldn't, Wilson decided to have a bit of fun with this. "Why, are you jealous?"

"No, of course not. I was just wondering."

"What about threatened?"

Corey pulled back from Wilson and glared at him with angered eyes.

"Yes, she's married."

"What about you? Does she know you're married?"

"Yes. She asked about you actually."

"And what did you say?"

"I said that I love you and that she shouldn't come anywhere near me."

Corey hit his arm playfully. "I hate you, you know that?"

He chuckled at how easily her moods changed. "Yeah, I know."

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A/N: So here we introduce Corey and Bernadette. The Conways are my source of evil in this story, which was unintentional, at least consciously. I think it was a subconscious thing, since Mary belongs with Wilson. Anyway, just wanted to mention that so if you think you're imagining things you know you're not.

And then, when they go away, The Camdens are evil. Fun stuff, let me tell you.

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Reviews will keep Corey being evil. Oh wait, she already is. Look at that.

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	3. Chapter 3

A/N: This one is dedicated to Shannon, at least the first half anyway. Muah ha ha I feel like being evil and I don't know why.

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Wilson rolled over early Saturday morning and propped his head up on his hand. He looked down upon Corey's face and their drab bedroom around her. She seemed so peaceful in the mornings. It was times like this when he didn't feel like an absolute loser as a husband. When he and Corey were dating, things went along famously. He was the doting boyfriend, and then the doting fiancé. Everyone would remark on how cute of a couple they made, and how cute of a family they would become. Their children would finally have two parents, and their lives would not be a compete disaster. They would actually have a chance at normalcy.

But somewhere between the engagement and the vows, they lost some of that magic. They started with little fights, they called off their wedding about five times or so, she gave him back the ring twice; it was more than just a little mess. It actually got to the point where they had to sit down and talk about whether they should be married, honestly and openly. As one might have astutely guessed, they married and have been married for almost a year and a half now.

Wilson would be the first to admit that that had been the hardest year and a half, second to the first year and half after Billy was born. Wilson lost his office job that he had had in Buffalo and the family was forced to move back from New York to both of their hometowns- GlenOak, California. They didn't have much money to speak of, and were forced to move in with Corey's mother, Denise Conway. Wilson was to naive then to tell Corey that he would have rather died than move in with her mother, but by now he had learned to speak up more.

Denise hated Wilson with a passion. She hadn't expected much by way of Corey getting a husband, with giving birth to her daughter at age fourteen and all, but she never imagined Wilson would turn out to be such a loser after they married. He came from a good family; his father was a doctor and his mother a housewife. There shouldn't have been anything wrong with him. But as soon as he lost his job and wasn't 'man enough', as she so delicately put it, to get another job and they had to move back in with her, Denise dubbed Wilson as a loser. There was no way he was going to be able to ever live that down.

Wilson had such a hard time that he continually drew comparisons from his current marriage to his previous one- the one from his teenaged years to Billy's mother, Becca. Both had entirely different circumstances to deal with, but the first time everything seemed easier. Wilson spent the first four months of his marriage to Corey wondering if he had made a momentous mistake.

It was the morning, mornings like this one that kept him through. When he looked at her, he knew that he loved her. Maybe not the same way he loved Becca or any other woman from his past, but he did love her, and that was all that mattered to him. He knew that if he loved Corey, he could make things work. Wilson had been known to fight for the things he loved, and Corey was no exception. The struggles they had endured lately had only been a testament to how strong they were- individually, at least. Their relationship still wasn't completely solid, but they were working on it. Neither of them could ask for much more.

Wilson gingerly rolled back over onto his back, as not to wake his sleeping wife, and she rolled over right with him and curled up on his chest. He waited for her to speak, not entirely sure if she was awake yet or not.

"'Morning," she mumbled to him.

"Good morning Corey." He leaned down and kissed her head. "Sleep well?"

"Oh yeah." A sly grin grew on her face. "You tired me out last night... and early this morning."

Wilson chuckled. "Well, that's what I was aiming for, so good." His eyes ran over Corey's lips, then her golden blonde hair, and then her eyes. He really was very physically attracted o her, as well as attracted her personality. She had the same easy-going vibe that Wilson had most of he time, so they clicked instantly. Plus the common ground they had with being teen parents, they really were a match made in heaven. He reached out and put his hand on Corey's hip, tickling his fingers along her smooth skin. He knew she favored touch above all else. It was the one thing that kept their relationship moving forward in accordance with the arrow of time.

"Do we have time for another round before we have to go pick up the kids?"

"Um, well, it is 9:30," he said glancing at the clock.

"But- but..." She tried to think up an excuse to seduce him. "I think it will be good for us. Connect one more time, you know?"

"I know, I know. You just want to get in my pants."

She laughed. "Oh yeah, that's it. You read my mind."

Wilson didn't know what to say to her. He liked sex as much as the next man, but he didn't agree with the way she used it. Corey viewed sex as some sort of panacea that would fix everything that was every wrong with their marriage. Wilson knew that that was untrue. Sex was more of a band-aid fix than anything else, especially in a relationship so fragile as theirs.

He didn't need to day anything, though. She sensed what he was thinking. "Oh, you don't want to. Fine. That's fine." She rolled away from him and out of bed. She strutted her naked self over to the closet, flaunting her body in front of him as if to say 'this is what you're missing out on'. She threw on some undergarments from the drawer next to her, a casual t-shirt, and jeans. Then she left the room, without another word, to go and make breakfast- for herself and only herself Wilson was sure.

Wilson rubbed his hands over his face and then got out of bed, dressing just like Corey had. He decided to go pick up Billy. By the time he got to his parent's house, it would be nearly 10:00 AM. Within ten minutes he was ready to leave. He exited the bedroom and sought out Corey only to find her where he knew she'd be- sitting in the kitchen eating her 'breakfast for one'. "I'm going to pick up Billy. It's time to get the kids." Corey didn't say anything, so he walked out.

Over at his parents' house, Billy was excited to see him. But no one was happier than his mother, who had missed Wilson so much in the past few months. Even though she had just seen him last night, it still wasn't enough.

"Oh Wilson," she said pulling him into a big hug. "How are you?"

"I'm fine, Mom."

"Good. I want you to be fine." She paused. "Everything is fine, isn't it?" Before he opened his mouth to speak she continued. "Don't lie to me."

"Corey and I are doing all right. Don't worry about me so much, OK? I can take care of myself."

Mrs. West gasped. "Are you ever going to stop worrying about Billy?"

Wilson smiled. "When he's pushing thirty, maybe."

"You're not that old yet, honey."

Billy popped in and grabbed Wilson's attention. "I don't know, Dad. You're pretty old."

"Thanks, kid."

"Can we go to the park now?"

"Yeah, sure. You're in luck; I remembered your soccer ball just as I was about to run out of the house." His tone was happy and carefree, the exact opposite of the tone he used when he talked about Corey and his marriage to her- and everyone around Wilson knew it.

"What about Corey and Bernadette? Are they going to come with us? 'Cause Bernadette said-"

"No, uh, it's just going to be the two of us today. OK?"

"Good," Billy remarked. "They were starting to get on my nerves anyway."

Wilson's mother picked up on what was going on. She didn't raise Wilson for eighteen years and Billy for two without being able to tell when something was up with him. Wilson was much more transparent than he wished to be- another fact that everyone close to him knew. He'd much preferred to be a guarded soul, but his personality didn't exactly work in his favor. Too giving, people often said.

"Why don't you go and wait in the car for your Dad, OK? He'll be out in just a minute."

Billy bopped out, blissfully unaware that anything was going on without his knowledge. For a smart kid, he didn't have much in the way of picking up on his surroundings. At least, that's what Wilson assumed.

"So," Wilson's mother said to him, "what's going on?"

"What do you mean 'what's going on?' Nothing's going on."

"With you and Corey," she elaborated. "I know something's up."

"And how is that?"

"A mother always knows."

Wilson huffed. "I see."

"So?"

"So nothing out of the ordinary."

She knew what that meant- they were fighting again. They were always fighting. "Do you think you two will last?"

"Mom!" Now Wilson made a move for the door. He'd had this conversation over ad over, and always had the same response for anyone who would listen. "I love Corey. I really love her. She means a lot to me."

"Uh huh." She was less than convinced.

"I'm not going to stand here and listen to you degrade my love for my wife. Corey's all that I have."

His mother just shook his head. "You have Billy."

"Right. And now I am taking him to the park." Wilson leaned over and hugged his mother. "Bye, Mom. Thanks for watching him last night and this morning."

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A/N: I'm just remembering now that there was someone on my list of people who were mine that I forgot to add. I can't remember his name. Dan (I had to look it up, how sad.) He'll come later. Not too much later, though. I really like Dan. I wish I were him. Anyway, I digress. Something pertinent to this chapter. Ah, yes. Corey. Everyone hates her. Why, in every story, do you need someone who everyone hates? Is it because it makes for someone to blame for stuff? Probably. My whole picture of her came from "Fathers" in Season 9 where Wilson helps that teen dad, Charlie (coincidence? Never.) He didn't seem too thrilled and his life turned out pretty bad, in my opinion. I always had this notion that Mary and Wilson would fix each other had they ended up together. And then in high school. Corey always seemed like a witch. So maybe that's where all this came from. Oh why do I even bother to psychoanalyze this? It is what it is. I don't like Corey. I need to get over it.

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Does Wilson convince you? Review.

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	4. Chapter 4

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The weather outside was still windy, and particularly cold for October in California. There was actually supposed to be wind chill, and with it there was a high of fifty degrees. Wilson was glad that he had grabbed his and Billy's coats before fleeing the house this morning. They were lucky to find an empty soccer field at one of the public parks they frequented and went to go play. Nothing made Wilson happier than running around with his son. This was one of the few times he was glad he was a teen parent. He'd always be spry enough to play with Billy. He'd even be able to run around with his grandkids, if he didn't deter Billy from the whole concept of marriage after the way he'd screwed things up with Corey.

Billy yelled out to Wilson that he wanted to practice heading the ball, but Wilson responded that he didn't think that was such a good idea. The last thing he needed was to have Billy complaining of a headache for the rest of the day when he couldn't give him anything stronger than a chewable, cherry-flavored children's aspirin. Wilson stopped for a second as he watched Billy kick the ball in circles around him. Billy took his eye off the ball for one second and tripped over it, crashing into the ground with a dull thud.

Wilson bent down and next to Billy. "You OK, sport?"

Billy shook his body about. "I'm fine."

"Why'd you trip? You're usually better at ball handling than that."

"I saw something."

Wilson extended his hand to Billy and pulled him up. "Oh yeah? What?"

"Not what." Billy shook his head as he bent over to pick up his ball. "Who." Billy pointed out to the benches that lined the soccer field.

There, Wilson saw the same dark blonde hair blowing in the wind that he had on Thursday night. Of course Mary was back. She was always back. This was why he was so afraid to say hi to her, so afraid of seeing her in general. For all he knew, Corey wasn't speaking to him at all. Running into Mary at the park today was less than ideal.

"Aren't you going to say hello to her?"

Wilson tore his eyes away from Mary to give Billy a straightforward and decisive answer. "No."

"Why not?"

"Because I-"

"But you already talked to her yesterday," Billy began to whine.

"How did you know that?"

"I heard you and Corey talking."

"You weren't supposed to hear that."

"I know, I know," Billy said, "but I have to listen to you guys."

"What?" Now Wilson was confused. "Why?"

"Because I need to know what's going on. I need to look out for you like you look out for me."

Wilson smiled. "That's sweet Billy, but-"

"Oh, will you just go talk to her already?"

Wilson ran is hair through his dark, thick hair. "I don't know."

Billy now tried reasoning with his father. "Mary was nicer to me than Corey or Bernadette's grandmother ever were."

"Well, that may be so, but Corey is my wife. You might be too young to understand this, but your wife usually doesn't like you talking to your ex-girlfriend. It's just not a safe thing to do."

Billy wasn't even listening. He walked around Wilson's body and started pushing him on his back in Mary's direction. Everything was screaming at Wilson that this was a bad idea except for the eight-year-old boy on his heels.

Mary looked up from her spot on the bench and groaned. She came to the park to get away from it all, from everything and everyone, only to be stalked by a man with four legs- Wilson with Billy pushing behind. She tried so hard to close her eyes and make them disappear, but to no avail. This is what I get for going out in public, Mary thought.

"Funny running into you here," Wilson said.

Mary's head perked up. "What are you, stalking me? I just saw you last week."

Wilson cocked his head. "Last week?"

"Yeah," she repeated.

"It was Thursday, Mare."

"Oh." Mary silently cursed herself. She'd been doing that a lot lately, forgetting things. Her memory in the past few months had been completely shot. At first she thought that it was just because she had so much going on in her life, but now she wasn't so sure. She quickly thought up an excuse for being wrong, like she had been doing for a while now. "This week has been the longest week for me, sorry. It feels like it should have been last week when I saw you."

Billy waved hi to Mary silently. He knew this whole situation was wrong, so he didn't speak.

"Hi, Billy. Look at you! You're growing like a weed. Couple more years and you'll be taller than your dad."

Billy smiled. "I hope so. Then I can step on Bernadette's head and squish her like a bug."

"Billy!" Wilson reprimanded. "That was totally uncalled for."

"But Dad-"

"No. No more 'buts'." Wilson handed Billy back the soccer ball. "Take your ball and go play, OK?"

"Fine," he grumbled, head bent down.

Wilson pointed to the empty area on the bench next to Mary. "This seat taken?"

Mary shrugged. "I guess not." He sat down next to her and Mary got these vibes from him. He was concerned about her. He was going to say something to the effect of 'are you OK?' or 'what's going on?'- and she didn't want to deal with it. He forced her to make a preemptive strike. "Look, I'm fine. I'm just going through some stuff now- nothing that I want to talk about, but I'm fine."

"I wasn't going to say anything."

"Liar." Mary paused. "So Billy doesn't like Bernadette?"

"He," Wilson laughed nervously. "I'm worried for him." He turned his head toward her. "But enough about my woes. Let's talk about you."

"I already said I didn't want to talk about it."

"You never want to talk about it, I know, but can we just skip the part where I beg you to tell me and skip to you caving?"

She shook her head. "Why don't we go back to talking about you. Now what's going on with Billy?"

Wilson rolled his eyes at her. "Billy liked Bernadette a lot, and he was fine with Corey. But then once we got married, Corey and I started fighting. We're fine," he scrambled to say, not wanting her to think there was any chance of them becoming romantically involved, "but he's gotten very protective over me."

"Well, you guys were alone for a while. Somebody had to look out for you."

"Yeah, I guess."

"So...if you and Corey are fighting, won't she be mad if she finds out you sat and talked to me?"

"Yeah. I told her Thursday that I saw you, and she kind of flipped out." Wilson thought for a moment. "Don't you have a husband out there somewhere? Won't he care-"

"He's in New York, unless he decided to move on me, and we're not really speaking so..." She stopped. "And there you go. That's all I'm saying."

"Fine." He smiled. "But, do you want my theory on it?"

"On what, my marriage?"

"No, on you."

Mary smirked. This should be good. "OK, sure."

"There's more going on then whatever is happening between you and this husband of yours. I think something is wrong."

She was perturbed. "Well, well, well. You've turned into Sherlock Holmes over the years, have you?"

"Mare, come on."

"See, I left the house so that I wouldn't be bothered. And then, poof! here you show up ready to save the day."

"You're staying with your parents?"

She nodded. "I had nowhere else to go."

Wilson looked down at the green blades of grass that lined the sidewalk beneath their feet. "I'm going to say this again, and this time I really mean it. If you need help or anything, you call."

"But Corey-"

"I know; don't worry about her. If she hated me for you calling, it wouldn't be any different than any other day."

Mary looked over at Wilson. He was so genuine when he spoke to her. That was what attracted her to him in the first place. He meant everything he said and put his heart behind his words. She could see in his eyes that he was passionate about helping her since he thought she needed the help. "Fine," she conceded. "If I need help, I'll call, but I won't need help."

"All right then." Wilson didn't believe Mary for a second. He'd known Mary for a really long time and was able to tell when she was telling an untruth with great accuracy. He put his hands on the bench next to him and pushed himself into a standing position. "I'll see you around then, Mary. Bye."

"Bye Wilson."

Mary sat and watched as Wilson walked away to his son. He approached Billy slowly, said a few words to him, and then walked over to the soccer ball. The two started playing again like nothing ever happened. Wilson never looked back. Mary was unsure about what she should do now, so she just sat and watched Wilson play with Billy. Nothing was sweeter than parent and child. This made Mary miss her own son, the one she left behind, the one she gave up custody of to Carlos- Charlie. Seeing them together made Mary feel sick.

She just couldn't deal with leaving Charlie. That's why she left right after she dumped him on Carlos. She couldn't take the guilt or any of the conflict that resulted from her decision. She'd stayed in a hotel for about a week, blowing half of the savings that she and Carlos had managed to put away in the past year. Mary didn't even realize all the money she was spending. She knew the cost of the hotel stay, but it didn't seem to register in her mind that she didn't have that kind of money to be spending.

None of Mary's actions seemed to have any consequences, at least to her. She knew what she was doing, and she knew what would happen if she did what she did, but it never hit her everything that she was doing and everything she was losing. Nothing had hit her at all until she saw Wilson playing with Billy right then. She'd never have the opportunity to play soccer with Charlie. For all she knew, she'd never see him again.

She thought for a minute about whether or not Carlos turned in the papers that they both signed to give him full custody over Charlie. She assumed he did. He was pretty mad at her when she left, and their marriage was in a shambles. Mary had no idea how they would fix this, if they could even fix it. She hadn't even heard from Carlos in two weeks, and was beginning to think maybe there wasn't anything for them to fix.

The wind whipped and Mary sat on her hands to warm them. She really needed to start wearing the proper outerwear if she was going to continue to go outside everyday, all day. Mary looked down at her watch to check the time. It was only 11:45. She had about nine hours to go before she felt comfortable going back to her parent's house. Only to sleep, she kept reminding herself, only to sleep.

Her family hadn't been much of a problem this time when she came back. In the past, they had bee a real bother. A meddling, stick their noses' in everything bother. This time, they seemed to be staying out of it, or at the very least not confronting her with anything. She was sure that they'd called Carlos by now, though, so maybe they knew what had happened anyway. Not that Carlos could tell them. He didn't know. Mary didn't even feel like she knew what was happening herself. She hated these feelings of constant limbo. She'd started having them when she married and she had yet to shake them.

Maybe Carlos was the wrong guy. Maybe she wasn't meant to marry him. Maybe her whole life had been a mistake. She felt as if she didn't remember why she'd made any of her recent decisions, and that they all were bad ones. Maybe... maybe she would finally be able to cut all ties with her former life and turn things around. Maybe she'd feel normal. That was most definitely a concept worth aspiring, too. She could always dream, couldn't she?

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A/N: This chapter is so long. Who knew? So this is the park chapter. I really like it. ("It's so small. I really like it!" Stupid Cingular.) Favorite part: turning Billy from 8 or whatever I said he was into a full-fledged adult. He understands more than his father does about life. Favorite favorite part: Billy stepping in Bernadette's head. That gave me a good chuckle when I read this back now. Is this the first appearance Mary is making in a while? I believe so. I love Mary. …I'm in a very good mood right now for some reason.

Next chapter is a flashbacky thing. You'll like it, trust me. That is, if you have interest in knowing what's going on under the surface, if you want to start analyzing these crazy character antics on your own.

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Is Mary allowed to dream? We'll see. Please review.

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	5. Chapter 5

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Carlos entered their apartment around 6:45 at night. Once he was settled, the noise in the apartment became apparent, then Mary sitting in the dark on the couch. Carlos just stood there for a minute, head cocked, and then ran off to get the baby. He came back in with Charlie and sat down next to Mary.

"Didn't you hear him screaming his head off?"

She didn't even move. "Yes."

"Then why didn't you get up?" She just shrugged. "How long has he been crying like that?"

"I don't know. About twenty minutes."

"Mary!" Carlos could not believe what he was hearing. Mary heard their child crying and did nothing. That's a grave parental sin. "Here, take him, I want to change."

He extended his arms with baby Charlie out to his wife. "No."

"No?" Carlos pushed Charlie against the side of Mary's body and she scooted away.

"Stop it."

"What is wrong with you?"

Now she looked away from him. "Nothing."

"Do you- do you have that thing?" It took Carlos a few seconds to think up the name. "That, that thing. That depression thing."

Mary wanted to hit him. "Post-partum depression?"

"Yeah, that's it. Do you have that or something?"

"No, Carlos," she said angrily. "I do not have post-partum depression."

Carlos stood up with the baby and went toward Charlie's room. "I don't know. I think you do," he said in a singsong voice as he walked away.

Mary felt like she wanted to crawl into a hole and die all day. That was why she sat in the dark that night, not moving or thinking. She just sat there, trying to forget how strange she was feeling. That was the first time she began to link things together and figured out that something was really wrong with her. What, she was unsure of, but something was definitely up. But Mary was not a quitter, nor was she the type of person to ask for help. If she couldn't deal with her problems herself then she simply did not deal with them- also known as running away.

She felt that feeling again. That same feeling she had had about four times before. She was going to run- run from her life here to where she did not know. Carlos was a nice husband, the kind who never forgot your birthday or anniversary. What he was not so good at was realizing things. The only thing he had ever picked up on was that Mary was pregnant, and she had no idea how he was able to do that in he first place, but that was another issue entirely. If Mary was sick, if she was tired, if anything at all was going on around him, Carlos was always the one blissfully unaware, which was why her leaving was going to kill him. Absolutely kill him.

But Mary knew that only a crazy person would just up and leave her husband and baby boy, both of whom she loved with everything she had. The more and more she thought about it, though, the more she would resent Charlie. All of her problems started right around the time he was born. The first irrational thing she remembered doing was not allowing any of her family to come and see the first grandchild be born. She got very self-conscious of the fact that they would all be there, doting on her and her baby. The thought of it all just made her want to be left alone. And, in traditional Mary fashion, she had to go to the extreme. Because of all that, Mary had the papers drawn up to give Carlos full custody of Charlie when she left. She couldn't be his mother anymore. The mere thought of it all was suffocating her.

She had to go with the extreme on this. If she wanted out, she needed a good reason, or a reason better than 'everything is perfect but I can't do this anymore.' She knew she had a few more moments before Carlos would come out of the bedroom expecting a dinner that she hadn't made and a wife who was normal. She was off from work today, so he always expected her to be Super Mom and Super Wife on those days, since she, evidently, had nothing else to do. Tomorrow was a busy day for her. She was flying all over the country and back again- but she would be home in time for dinner. Mary thought for a few moments but came up with nothing. Mary decided she'd come up with something while at work tomorrow, when she would have more time to think.

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Mary walked down the hallway of her apartment building to her door. It was about 7:45 PM, and she spent twelve hours that day thinking of a way to be able to ditch Carlos and Charlie with no luck at all. The best answer she could come up with was just to tell him the truth, that she was changing and she wasn't changing with him. She needed some space for a while. Mary fumbled around her purse for her key before finding it at the bottom of the linen lining. Mary inserted the key into the keyhole and turned it with the knob.

Inside, she found Carlos and Charlie's babysitter, Cecily, eating dinner together at their kitchen table. Carlos's hand was on Cecily's arm. Mary snapped. Everything snapped. The little pieces she was hanging onto broke inside of her. This was her way out.

Mary stood, mouth agape.

"Oh, Mary," Carlos stood up. "Hi."

"What are you doing?"

"I got home from work late and I knew you wouldn't be home for a while so I asked Cecily to eat dinner with me. I felt bad for making her stay later than I'd originally asked her to."

Mary made a conscious effort to make herself look angry. "But you're still eating diner with another woman."

"Not 'another woman'. Charlie's babysitter."

Mary gave Cecily the dirtiest look she could muster up. "Carlos, we need to talk."

Cecily grabbed her things, apologized about ten times, and quietly exited the apartment. Mary stomped around the room a few times, thinking up exactly how she was going to approach this one, before blowing up.

"How old is she, Carlos? Twenty-one? You're thirty-two!"

"Mary, nothing was going on. We were just eating. You're telling me I'm not allowed to eat?"

"Not in our apartment with another woman."

"Will you stop with this 'other woman'? You're the only woman for me. You're the only woman I want to eat dinner with."

"Then why were you eating with her?"

"Because I felt bad!" He grunted. "There's nothing wrong with what I am doing, Mary. It's all perfectly fine and you know it."

She looked into his eyes. "I don't think this is going to work anymore."

Carlos's face dropped. "What did you say?"

"I don't know if this is working out."

"This as in..."

"This as in us, as in me being a wife and a mother. I still don't know how sure I am about doing all of this and then I come in after a long day and see you doing that? You kill me Carlos, you really kill me."

"Mary, slow down." He approached her but she moved away from him.

"I don't want to be a wife anymore. I don't want to be a mother. I can't do this. I'm done."

Carlos was so frustrated with her that he was unsure how to even respond to what she had just said. "So, what, you're leaving now?"

"Yup." Mary pointed to her bags she had from work- suitcases filled with all the things she would need for a few days. "I'm already packed."

"Don't leave. You can't leave."

"Carlos-" He put her hand on her arm. "Get off me."

"What is wrong with you? You're acting crazy." She didn't answer. "This can't possibly all be from me eating dinner." She still didn't answer. "Fine," he said. "You want to go? Go. But you're not taking the baby."

"I don't want the baby." Those words hit both Carlos and Mary like daggers. She didn't want her own child. This was huge. "There are some papers in my top drawer for you to sign. I want to give you full custody over Charlie. I just can't be a mother. I can't be here anymore."

"Did I do something?"

Mary shrugged as tears formed in her eyes. "I don't know."

"Do you still love me?"

Her tears finally fell. "Yes."

"Then why?" He mumbled some things in Spanish. "Why are you doing this to me- to us? We're a family and you're quitting on us."

"You don't understand."

"What's there to understand?"

"That I can't be here anymore."

Carlos scoffed. "That makes no sense to me."

Mary breathed deeply. "Exactly." She walked back from Carlos, back to the door, picked up her bags, and put her hand on the doorknob.

"Aren't you at least going to say goodbye to Charlie?"

"Bye Carlos." And with that she left.

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A/N: You know, I kind of like this. It doesn't make much sense, but select parts of it work quite well. In case you didn't notice, this was supposed to be a flashback. This is what happened when Mary left Carlos- the day before and the day of. Overall, it kind of works for me.

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Would you have left Carlos? Review.

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	6. Chapter 6

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Mary sat on the bench outside in the backyard, waiting before going inside. She hated going inside the house- absolutely hated it. No one was really starting to bother her yet, which was a good thing, but it was almost worse than having them corner her. They had no idea what was going on in her life, save whatever they could squeeze out of Carlos (which probably wasn't much... or, upon second thought, might have been a lot, since she imagined he hated her now), but they would continue to stare at her like they could help her.

They all wanted to help her. That was the highest personal exaltation a person could ever get to within the Camden family. Maybe Wilson should become one of those famed "honorary Camdens" the peons of GlenOak all strived to be, deep down inside. Mary would easily give up her place in the family to whomever wanted it. She loved her family, she really did, but when it came down to it they just didn't understand her. And, now that Mary was having a difficult time understanding herself, she was certain that the wall between her and them would be even thicker.

Mary got up and started pacing around the outside of the back door. Should she go in? Should she not go in? Who would be waiting for her behind that door? After fifteen painstaking minutes, she walked inside. As soon as she turned the doorknob, she heard her father yell. Eric had been sitting in the middle of the kitchen and wasn't expecting Mary to walk through the door.

"Oh!" he shrieked as he spun around. Eric held his hand over his chest. "Mary, hi. I wasn't expecting you to come in. I was just sitting here having a snack, and..." Eric tried to hide the bowl of vanilla ice cream with chocolate sauce and whipped cream he had sitting before him.

"Aren't you not supposed to be eating those types of things?"

"Well, no, I'm not, but-"

"Whatever," Mary said. "I don't care. You're a grown man, you can do what you want."

"And I suppose you think that you're a grown woman and you can do what you want, is that it?"

Mary stopped in her tracks to the stairs. "What?" She shook her head at her father. "No."

"I talked to Carlos today."

At the mention of his name, Mary took a seat opposite of her father at the kitchen counter. This was going to take a while. "Of course you did."

"You know, if you had told us anything about what was going on I wouldn't have to call him so much."

"You've got me there."

Eric folded his hands on the table. "What's gotten into you lately? You pick up, you leave Carlos, you...you-" Eric paused. "I couldn't get everything out of Carlos, but I did happen to talk to Matt today. Were you aware that Matt's very friendly with Carlos?"

Mary sighed angrily. "Dad, don't treat me like a child. I thought that's what you thought the whole point of this thing was, right? That I'm an adult and so I'm spreading my wings? Why talk down to me then? It only makes me mad."

"It's not mad. It's angry."

Mary took a deep breath. "What did Matt tell you that Carlos told him?"

"Nothing. That's the thing. Nothing. I feel like everyone I talk to knows what's going on but me. You know, Carlos knows, and now Matt knows. And me?" Eric yelped in a frustrated manner. "I've been trying to figure this out for weeks with nothing."

"Well," Mary said calmly. "In that case, I'm just," she reached into her purse and fumbled for her phone, "going to take my cell phone, go back outside, and call Matt before I decide what I should be talking to you about."

"Can't you just tell me? Mary, I can't take this anymore. You're driving me nuts."

"You think you're the only one who feels nuts here? You're not." Mary stopped to collect herself. "Let me go call Matt. If you want to wait on me I'll probably be back inside."

"Just probably?"

"I was thinking about sleeping in my car."

Eric had no response to that. Or to her. "Go outside and talk to Matt."

"Fine," Mary spat back. "I'm going." She walked outside, where she had come from originally, and closed the door. She lowered herself onto the stoop as she searched for Matt's name in her phone's internal address book. She dialed and within three rings someone answered.

"Hello?"

It was a woman. "Sarah?"

"Mary, hi."

"Hi. Can I talk to Matt please?"

"He's actually sleeping right now. We both were."

Mary looked down at her watch. 11:45 PM. That meant it was close to 2:00 AM on the east coast. "Sorry." She sighed, pondering over what to do. "Then, uh, don't wake him. Maybe you can help me."

Sarah yawned loudly. "What do you need?" Sarah had never had much of a relationship with Mary. Matt was buddies with Carlos, but never Mary and Sarah. Sarah always thought that Mary resented Sarah, somewhere deep down, because she married Matt before Mary was able to get married herself- although that was not the case at all. Mary liked Sarah, she just wasn't too sure about a Matt and Sarah- still.

"I want to know what Carlos told Matt today. Evidently Matt talked to him, and then to my dad, but wouldn't tell my dad anything."

"Matt didn't tell me he talked to Carlos today."

"...So then I bet he knows almost everything," Mary mumbled.

Of course, Sarah heard what she had said. "Maybe, if he called your dad. But Mary."

"Yeah?"

"I know. I know what happened. Or, at least, the story Carlos's touting. I ran into him a few days after you left and he told me everything."

"Did you tell Matt?"

"No. Carlos had asked me to, but then once you showed up at your house I decided not to say anything."

"Why?"

"Because I see a lot of myself and Matt in you two. You married almost as quickly as we did and I know how difficult that can be. You don't really know what you're getting yourself into when you say those vows. And I can't even imagine having a baby, too. Like right now, if I were up for a feeding instead of just answering his cell phone... it would just ruin everything. It's hard when something's not completely stable to begin with to jumble everything up."

"I take it then you're referring to the whole custody thing."

"Yes. Which, by the way, I'm not endorsing at all. I still can't get my head wrapped around what you did."

Mary sighed heavily. "I know. But you're not me. You're not me living my life. I don't think anyone could understand unless they were."

"That could be true, yeah." Sarah waited to see if Mary would say anything else, and she didn't. "OK, then. I'm going back to bed."

"Are you going to tell Matt? Are you waiting for a certain amount of time to pass or something? Because that's a big secret to hold onto."

"Trust me, I've kept bigger. And no, I'm not saying anything."

"What if he asks?"

"If he asks I'll tell him to call you. I don't know why I'm doing this, but you have my word."

"Because it's not your place to say," Mary added.

"What?"

"Because it's not your place to say. That's why you're promising me you won't."

Sarah yawned again. "Sounds good to me. Good night Mary."

"Good night."

"Oh, wait," Sarah yelled out. "Do you want me to tell Matt you called?"

"If we didn't wake him up already, then no."

"All right. 'Night."

"'Night." Mary closed her phone shut and stood to go back in the house. No reason to beat around the bush about going back inside.

"Ah, I see you've decide to sleep where there's some heat."

"Yeah, yeah," Mary grumbled. He was still sitting in the same spot where she had left him, but most of the ice cream that was in the bowl when Mary first entered had since disappeared.

"So, what did Matt say?"

"Nothing. He was asleep. Sarah answered the phone, told me so, asked me what was going on-"

Eric perked up. "And you said?"

"Nothing. I'm not telling you but I'm going to spill my guts in a five minute groggy phone call to my sister-in-law?"

Now he drooped. "I guess not."

"So what are you going to tell me, then?"

"You? Nothing."

Eric screamed quietly and started tugging at what little hair was still on his head. Then, in a huff, he stopped and regained his composure. "Fine then. This is all very exhausting so I think I'm going up to bed." He finished the last scoop of ice cream sitting in the bowl, sipped the ice cream soup that had puddled at the bottom, and stood up. "You know where to find me," he continued. Eric placed his bowl in the sink, shook his head one final time at Mary, and then walked up the stairs mumbling to himself.

There was no way that, now, Mary was going to venture upstairs. The couch would do just fine. Suddenly, Mary felt a wave of sadness hit her. How could she have left her husband? Sarah said that things were tough with her and Matt also, but they were still together. They were still working things out. Mary just gave up and ran away. She needed to stop doing that. Right then, Mary made a vow to herself that she would never run away again. As she fixed the pillows and blanket on the couch in the living room tucked away from view, she settled on the only running that she would allow herself to do. From now on, Mary was only to run toward something, something that mattered. Otherwise, she would be forced to stay put. All this running had gotten her nowhere, aside from sleeping on the couch in her parents house because she was too ashamed to go up the stairs and sleep in her own bed. What a debacle this was.

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A/N: The Sarah and Mary conversation. I like Sarah, I like Mary, why not put them together I say? This conversation was a bit on the strange side, but it still worked for me because I find the concept of their nonexistent friendship so intriguing. I mean, really. Matt and Carlos, best buds. Mary and Sarah, who knows? I'm sure it didn't help that Jessica Biel was never on the show, so it was impossible for them to really explore that relationship, but still. They could have made a mention.

Mary and Carlos are a lot like Matt and Sarah in the way they married and their problems and everything. That would be an interesting avenue to explore- life in the Big Apple, GlenOak newlywed style. I'll keep that one in mind.

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Reviews will stop Mary from running. Ha! Well, they might make her think about it.

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	7. Chapter 7

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Annie walked into the living room with a manila folder. It had come in the mail a few moments ago, postmarked to Mary from New York City. Thinking these were some sort of divorce papers, Annie was certainly not pleased. She threw open the white doors that closed off the living room from the rest of the house and was shocked when Mary didn't spring awake. Since she didn't, Annie approached Mary's side. She coughed loudly; Mary didn't even stir. At that point, Annie had had it up to here with her daughter. Enough was enough. No more sleeping until noon, no more going about as she pleased, no more keeping the whole family in the dark. Without thinking what she was doing, Annie tossed the envelope in Mary's direction, inadvertently hitting Mary square in the face.

Mary's whole body convulsed and her hands rose to throw the mail off of her. "What's going on?" she asked loudly.

"Mail for you," Annie said in an overtly nonchalant voice.

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Wilson rushed around his bedroom looking for his tie, much to Corey's dismay. She hated when he was stressed in the morning. She believed in this whole schpeel about the way your morning went would be the way your day would go, and how you could project your day onto the days of people around you. Wilson thought she was totally nuts when she said any of this to him, but he loved her anyway.

"Wilson, what's wrong?" Corey asked, more out of agitation than genuine concern.

"I can't find my blue tie."

"Then wear the grey one."

"I can't find the grey one. This is the problem with having only two ties."

"Well, if you can find a tie that we can afford, go get yourself another one."

"I don't think they sell two dollar ties."

Corey rolled her eyes at him. "I'll stop into the Dollar Store today. Then you could get two, and this little dilemma of yours would really be solved."

He shook his head while bending over to reach under their bed. He probed the darkness until pulling out a blue satin tie. "How did this get under here?"

Corey thought for a moment. "Um... I think I threw it the last time you were wearing it."

A sly smile grew upon his face. "You need to stop doing that."

She approached him and put his hands on her chest. "You don't like it?"

"Oh, I do, but-"

"You know," she cut him off. "Too bad you don't have an orange tie."

"Why would I need an orange tie?"

"Because today's Halloween, silly!"

"Is it?"

"Yeah." Wilson thought for a second. "Do the kids have costumes?"

"Yup. Bernadette's going as a princess and Billy's a robot."

Wilson giggled. "A robot?"

"Yeah. They had a bagged costume to be a robot made out of foam."

"Oh, I see." Wilson smiled. "Do they look OK?"

"Yeah, they both look adorable."

"Perfect."

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Mary closed the envelope tightly. She vowed no one would be able to open it ever again. It was done now, and she had to get rid of the evidence. The biggest piece of evidence had to be the expression on her face right now. She had to get out of the house, and as soon as possible. She bolted past the kitchen and out the back door. She opened it and swung it wide, nearly taking of Lucy's head.

"Jeez Mary," Lucy yelled. "What's up with you?"

"Nothing. Nothing."

"Where are you going?"

"Away from here."

Lucy ran after Mary and grabbed her arm, stopping her from moving. "Are you OK, Mary?"

"Luce, just don't. Stop, OK?"

"Fine." She let of Mary. "Happy Halloween."

Mary spun back around. "What?"

"Happy Halloween."

"It's Halloween already? I thought it was only the twentieth or something."

"Nope, thirty-first." Lucy knew that something was off by looking into Mary's eyes. Things weren't right, and somebody had to do something. Mary was in for a mighty big fall.

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Wilson drove home that night after a light day of work at Crawford University. He only had one bumbling and confused freshman to deal with, and one disgruntled senior afraid of not having enough money to graduate. Wilson always thought it was funny that he worked in the bursar's office of a big university when he, himself, had had such financial problems in the past. He was just about home when he received a call on his cell phone. Looking at the Caller ID, he saw that it was Corey, his beloved wife.

"Yes honey?" Wilson answered.

"Candy. We need candy," she said breathlessly.

"What? You don't have any candy?"

"No. I forgot. And we're about two more displeased Trick or Treaters away from our house getting egged."

Wilson laughed hysterically.

"It's not funny!"

"Fine." He smiled. "I'll stop on the way home, OK?"

"'K. Thank you sweetie."

"No problem."

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Mary felt as if there was no way she was going to be able to get away from everything going on in her life. She sat in her car of the parking lot of a mini mall thinking up ways to escape. What ways did other people get away from the troubles associated with their horrible lives? She looked at her surroundings. A drug store, a couple of fledgling restaurants, and a liquor store. Liquor, Mary thought. That's a good idea. Better than cleaning out the drug store of their entire supply of cough medicine.

She opened the door of her car and stepped outside. She started to cross the parking lot, eyes fixed on her destination, when she nearly walked right into someone.

"Mary?" Wilson said.

"Wilson, it figures."

"What?"

"Nothing. It just figures I would run into you- literally."

"What are you doing here?"

"Um...what are you doing here?" There was no way she was going to admit to Wilson that she was going to buy a massive amount of alcohol.

"Corey forgot to buy candy so I'm stopping on my way home from work to get some- this was the last stop before my house. She called afraid the house would get egged."

"It might." Mary chuckled. "Where do you live?"

"Second to last house on the end of Cyprus Street."

"Ah, OK. I know where that is."

"So what are you doing here?" he asked again. He was worried about her.

She sighed. "I, uh, was just coming to pick up some toothpaste. I ran out."

"Oh, I see. We can go together then."

"Yeah, we can."

They entered the store together, passing through the automatic sliding doors. Wilson found some candy in the front of the door, picked up two medium sized bags, and then continued with Mary down the aisles to find her toothpaste.

"Wilson?"

"Yeah."

Mary didn't know why she was asking him this, but she had to say something. She was floundering, and it was scaring her to death. "When you have a bad day, what do you do?"

Wilson sadly smiled and put his hand on Mary's shoulder without even thinking.

Before he was able to answer her, Mary continued. "What about if you're having a bad life? How do you get a do-over?"

"You don't get one. You make one." He struggled to explain this to her. "You have to decide that your life is going to be better, that you are going to do something about it, and then do it. You have to help yourself."

She nodded and smiled at him. "OK." That sounded impossible. There was no way Mary was going to be able to do that. She was too scatterbrained to do it. Plus, she was too depressed. "Well, I've got my toothpaste so we can go now."

Wilson understood everything Mary was going through without knowing anything about her situation. It marveled him in way he was unable to explain. Before he could say anything, his phone rang. He answered it; it was Corey. "Hi honey." Out of the corner of his eye, he heard Mary turn away, as if she didn't want to listen in on him.

"They threw an egg at our house. Just one, but I think there might be more." Wilson had to try hard to contain his laughter. "Are you getting candy?"

"Yes. I have it in my hand right now."

"Good. Hurry back."

"OK, I will."

"But don't hurry too much," she cautioned. "Drive safely."

"OK, OK, OK. Bye babe." And he hung up.

"Corey?" Mary asked as they made their way to the checkout.

"Yup. Apparently one egg, just one, was thrown at our house and now I must rush back and man the fort."

Mary's face perked up. "I get it."

He stopped. "Get what?"

"The saying 'man the fort.' You have to go back and be a man."

He laughed as he put his bags of candy on he conveyor belt. "Whatever."

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"You know, I had no idea today was Halloween."

"I know. Neither did I until Corey mentioned something about orange."

Mary laughed. "There's this Camden family picture where Mom made us all wear orange. I think it was for back-to-school or something like that. Ruthie was just a toddler. That's what I associate the color orange with most- not fall or Halloween like most people."

"I see. Camdens were always a bit unconventional, though, weren't they?"

"Yeah, I guess."

"Well, I probably should go."

"Yeah, go ahead. But, uh, thanks Wilson. This helped, being with people."

"Mare, just..." He stopped himself. He didn't want to overstep any bounds and scare Mary off. "You make sure you take care of yourself, OK?"

-

Mary got back into her car with the toothpaste she wasted four dollars on that she didn't need. The liquor store a few steps away looked less and less appealing to her. The alcohol inside, however, still held its same effect. She decided to change her plan. If being with one person helped, imagine what being with a bunch of people would be like. Maybe being with complete strangers would lift her spirits. The intoxication wouldn't hurt, either.

Mary pulled out of the parking lot and drove down the highway. Next stop, the costume shop. She didn't think that she could have thought up a more perfect idea.

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A/N: This chapter should have been more… I don't know. Wilson should have reached out to her more. I think I was going for the thing of Wilson not trying to scare her off so much, which was in contrast with what he wanted to do in helping her. If there was no Corey, this would have been the part where he loved her. Well, maybe by the end of next chapter. You'll see what I'm talking about.

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Reviews will let you choose Mary's costume.

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	8. Chapter 8

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Mary looked around the Halloween store. She'd had to travel all the way out to the mall, since she didn't know where else to get a costume. Her mother had always made hers for her when she was little; they never bought them. The store itself was spooky. Inside was dark and mysterious, with about three or four smoke machines set sporadically around the store. She walked around for about ten minutes, dodging mostly adults picking up the last minute outfit for that party they were going to or whatever. When she got to the back of the store, a salesman approached her to lend a hand. Actually, he could hardly be called a man. He was all of about seventeen.

"Can I help you Ma'am?" His voice cracked on the word help.

Mary bit her tongue to keep from laughing at this gawky, redheaded kid with a few pimples and not-so-invisible braces. "Yeah. I'm looking for a costume."

"Halloween Hut has hundred of haunting... oh, gee, I forgot the last word. Do you know a word that starts with 'h' for clothes?"

Mary laughed. "No."

"Well, that's not important. We have tons of costumes. Are you looking for anything or anyone in particular?"

Mary thought for a minute. Women's costumes always got the bad rap of being too naughty or revealing. She didn't even remember the last time she had felt sexy, or even thought about sex, so maybe that was the route to go. "Something sexy," she said confidently. "I'm going out tonight."

The boy turned such a deep shade of red he almost looked purple. "O-OK. Let's find you something."

When he turned around and walked away, Mary noticed him breathing heavily. Apparently, he thought she was attractive or something. It didn't make her feel any better, like she'd hoped it would, but maybe that would have to come in time.

"Here are our women's costumes. Do you want, like, a whole costume, or just a mask or something."

"A whole costume," Mary said without thinking. She knew well enough to know that a mask simply was not sexy.

"OK." The boy turned back to the wall and scanned its contents. "We've got... Wonder Woman, Bat Girl, a nurse..." He turned around to see if she was interested in anything he had mentioned. No such luck. "A Teenaged Mutant Ninja Turtle."

"What?!"

"Oh, yeah. They're all the rage again. We have Donatello."

"I think I'll pass."

He smiled. "Fine." The boy continued on with his list. "Bride of Frankenstein, Catwoman..."

"Catwoman. Catwoman sounds good."

"All right. Let me go get the stick so I can get it down off the wall for you." He walked down to the end of the aisle and quickly came back. "What size would you need."

"Um..." Mary had no idea.

"A small is, supposedly, a four. A medium's an eight."

"Then the small, I guess," Mary said. Her mind flashed to her figure post-baby. Would a formfitting jumpsuit look all right on her? Then, she had to think about what Carlos would think of what she was planning on doing, or what Charlie was being for his second Halloween. So she stopped thinking altogether.

"OK." He handed her the costume. "Register's in the front of the store. Thanks for shopping at Halloween Hut."

"No problem, and thank you for your help."

"Certainly."

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Mary walked down the mall, passing all of the empty stores around her. She guessed Halloween wasn't much of a shopping holiday, save candy runs like Wilson had done earlier or the costume run Mary was on right now. She passed a sign for the restrooms, stopped, then turned back around. The bathroom would be the perfect place for he to change into her costume. No way was she going home, and changing in her car could get her arrested- especially into something like this.

She walking into one of the stalls and closed the door. Examining the contents of the costume bag, she saw that the costume included the black head to toe leotard and an eye mask, which was perfect. Mary took off her clothes and gingerly put on the costume. It was a bit of a struggle to get on in such a confined space, but she had managed. It actually fit her pretty well, much to Mary's surprise. She put her clothes back on over it and attempted to walk out, only to trip over the bag at her feet. It was then that Mary noticed her white tennis shoes. They simply would not do with this costume choice of hers.

Her next stop was a notoriously inexpensive shoes store. Mary saw a pair of black ballet flats in the window. Looking at her watch and seeing that it was five o'clock, Mary rushed inside. She tried a pair in her size, and they fit reasonably well, as shoes for $10.99 go.

Mary went back to her car and changed out her shoes. The next step was to find a bar to go to. One that would be packed on a Halloween night. One where she wouldn't look insanely ridiculous in this costume she bought. She didn't really know of any bars in the area. If she were still in New York City, she could think of dozens. Now, she had no clue. She was forced to drive around GlenOak. After driving for twenty minutes, she found one that might suit her needs called J. R.'s Classy Pub. She conducted a mini stakeout of the joint until she saw some people entering. Some men, some women. They all appeared to be around her age. A few were even in costume. This had to be the place. ...Besides, if it wasn't she could always walk out. There was no commitment here.

Mary walked into the bar, complete in costume. All the men inside, and there were a lot of them, starting shouting. She blushed a little, fighting the urge she felt to run back out to her car. She didn't even have to get up to the bar before a man of about thirty, thinning brown hair, bit of a potbelly, came over to her.

"Can I buy you a drink? Ra-ar!" He even did that cat paw thing with his hand.

"Um..."

Before she could even answer, another man approached her. "No, no, no. She doesn't want you Ralph. She wants me." This guy was about twenty-eight, not bad looking, but he had the worst breath Mary had ever smelled.

"No, I don't think I want either of you," Mary said, pushed past them, and sat on a stool at the bar.

Another man, this one closer to twenty-five Mary guessed, came over. He exuded suaveness, with grey-blue eyes and dirty blond hair cut close to his head. "I take it you've never been here."

"No, I haven't." He actually seemed pretty OK. Maybe this wasn't such a bad idea after all.

"Let me buy you a drink. What are you having?"

"Oh, I don't know." Mary had never really drank before, save a few sips of whatever Carlos was having, which wasn't very often. "A beer I guess."

"How lady-like." Mary blushed. "What kind?"

Mary shrugged her black Lycra encased shoulders. "What do you recommend?" He winked, turned to the bar tender, and a few seconds later Mary had her beer. She took a sip and smiled, letting him know she approved. "Sam Adams."

"Ah, OK."

"So, what brings you here tonight Catwoman? Nice costume, by the way."

"Why aren't you dressed up?"

"I was never a Halloween fan. Even as a kid, I didn't like it. I don't have much of a sweet tooth, so the whole notion of running around to get candy never appealed to me."

"I like sugar. Not very big on the chocolate, though."

"I see."

Mary took another sip of her drink. "Do you come here often?"

"About once a month, I'd say. I started doing it when I moved out here a couple years back, since I didn't really know anyone, and I never stopped."

"Do you live in GlenOak?"

"Yup."

Mary smiled. "I grew up here. But then I moved out to Buffalo," more like dragged, Mary thought, " and then to New York City."

"I grew up in Rochester."

"I've been to Rochester once or twice. It's very pretty there."

He laughed. "And that's about it. I had to get out. But, then I went to school there and kind of got stuck. Thank God I was able to take a job on the West Coast." Mary smiled. "So now that you've heard my life story..."

Mary chugged down about half of her beer. "I'd rather not, if you don't mind."

"Oh," he said. "Is that what this is about?"

"Kind of, yeah."

"All right, uh... I didn't catch your name."

"It's Mary."

"Mine's Dan, also known as Dan the Man."

"How charming."

They continued this way for the next two hours, Mary and Dan talking, Dan buying Mary drinks, and Mary slowly getting drunk. When Dan refused to buy her any more drinks, she asserted that she was a big girl and bought some herself. She'd had about six beers by the time Dan decided she needed to go home and he would have to help her do that.

"Mary, I think you're done now."

"No, I'm not!"

"Yes you are, Catwoman. It's ten o'clock, time to get you home."

"Jou, jou think that jou're going to drive me home?" She was speaking louder than normal.

"Not if you don't want me to."

"I barley know you."

"Barley?"

"Yes, barley. Did I stutter?"

The entire occupancy of the bar laughed. "Come on, Mary, time to leave. Go back to your house."

"I don't have a house! I don't live here! I live in New York!"

"OK, honey, come on." Dan put his hands on Mary's shoulders and walked her outside. He whipped out his cell phone. "I'm just going to call you a cab and you can take it to wherever you want, OK?"

Mary smiled widely and started pointing to her nose. "I know where I'm going."

"Good, good."

The cab took five minutes to arrive, and when it did, Dan made sure she was all right. He took out twenty-five dollars and paid the cabby before she got in, then turned to Mary. "Mary, don't puke in the car OK?"

"OK." She wrapped her arms around Dan tightly. "Bye Pat."

He laughed. "It's Dan."

She laughed, too. "I know that."

"All right. Well, good bye Mary."

Mary got in the cab and the cabby asked her where she was headed. "Uh..." Mary's head hurt. She blurted out the only address she remembered. "Cyprus Street, second to last house."

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A/N: I love Dan. He's supposed to be like that guy in movies that the girl meets, and he's perfect for her, but she's in love with someone else so it doesn't matter. That's Dan.

Besides him, the costume shop kid is kind of based off of someone I know, Mary's costume selection is based off of some pictures that surfaced of Jessica Biel this Halloween and the sexiness was based off of Halloween at college… and the bar, something Classy Pub (what a fab name I came up with), looks like The Chieftain from _Men in Trees_ in my mind. Oh, and her shoes are based off of shoes that I own, although I do not think that I owned them when I wrote this.

Anyway, this chapter was ridiculously long, and I pretty much love it. Next chapter, not so great. You might be thinking "Ooh!" when she gave her destination to the cabby, but you'll really go "Oh that sucked" after you read the next chapter.

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Come along for the ride. Review.

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	9. Chapter 9

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Mary knocked loudly on the door as she rang the doorbell about ten times. After a few moments (not that Mary noticed, since she was totally smashed), Wilson answered the door. Corey had made him go, since it was after eleven o'clock and she thought that it would be some older Trick or Treaters at the door. As soon as he opened it and saw who she was, he ducked out of the house and outside with her. The last thing he needed was to have Corey see who it was.

"What are you doing here?" Mary just laughed loudly. "Mare." She stumbled, almost fell over, and Wilson had to catch her. "Were you drinking?"

"Just a little."

"Uh huh, sure." He looked around his driveway. "Did you drive here?"

"No. Pat got me a cab." She laughed again. "Pat, cab. That rhymes."

"No, it doesn't."

"Yes, it does."

"Look at me Mary." It took her eyes a few seconds, but she finally got them to focus. "You're really drunk right now, so I'm going to take you home, OK?"

"No. I hate home. I hate my family." Mary pulled away from Wilson and sat down on the ground.

Wilson, trying to level with her, got down with her. "Why? What did they do?"

"They don't understand me."

"What's there to understand?"

She huffed. "Wilson, Wilson, Wilson."

He laughed. "Yes?"

"You get me. They don't. Figure it out."

Wilson suddenly got a giant burst of inspiration. "Can I ask you something?"

"Anything you want, bud."

"All right then. What happened with you and that husband of yours?"

"Well-"

Before Mary got a chance to answer, the front door swung open. "Wilson?" Corey asked. Sheepishly he stood up. "Oh, there you are. What were you doing on the ground?"

Mary rolled over and stood up. She almost fell face first, but then regained her balance. "Hi."

"You-" Corey stopped and dropped her jaw. "You were out here with her. On the ground."

"Corey-" Wilson said.

"What were you two doing down there anyway?"

"Nothing, just talking." She still didn't look happy. "She went down first."

"Oh, Wilson. Gah! You are so disgusting!"

Wilson closed his eyes tightly in repugnance. "What are you, fourteen? I cannot believe you just said that to me."

"All right. You can 'not believe' it out here all night."

"What? Corey, don't be ridiculous."

"Ridiculous?" she huffed. "You were out here with your old, whatever, doing God knows what."

Mary walked forward to Corey and put her hand out to her. "You have really pretty hair. Do you dye it a lot?"

Corey could smell the alcohol on Mary's breath. "Is she drunk?"

"Yes, that's why I took her out here," Wilson lied. "I'm taking her home."

"No. No, you're not!" Mary yelled.

Corey just rolled her eyes and went back inside the house. This was pretty bad. Wilson was torn between two women, one his wife and the other his friend who he felt he had an obligation to help.

"You know," Wilson said, turning to Mary, "I don't have to help you. Maybe I shouldn't."

"But you have to."

"No? I don't." He took Mary's hand and brought him over to his car. Luckily he had had his car keys in his pocket. "This is going to get me in more trouble than you're worth."

"Thank you," she said proudly.

Wilson opened the door for Mary, sat her down, buckled her in, told her not to puke in his car, and then got in the driver's seat. He started up the car and pulled out of his driveway. "So, if I'm driving you home and putting out my neck for you like this, you're going to tell me what's going on with you. I didn't want to pressure you into saying anything before, but now your life is affecting mine so out with it."

"OK, OK. I freaked out and decided that I didn't want to be a wife or a mother, so I left Carlos and I gave him complete custody over Charlie."

"Wait a second. You had a baby? You, you have a baby?"

"Yup. A year ago. I got pregnant about three months after Carlos and I got married. That was a giant mistake- not Charlie, getting pregnant."

Wilson was surprised at how much Mary sobered up to tell her story. "So, so what happened? You just left?"

"Kind of. I accused Carlos of sleeping with... whatever her name was. I knew he wasn't, though." Mary giggled a little. "I lied."

"So are you two going to stay together?"

Mary sighed. "I don't want to be with anyone else. I love him." She pointed harshly at Wilson. "So don't get any crazy ideas, mister."

"When did you leave?"

Mary thought for a bit. "I don't remember."

"OK." He thought up something else to ask her. "So, do you drink a lot?" He thought maybe drinking was her problem, or one of her problems, at least.

"Nope. I thought it would fix things."

"And what about Catwoman? Is there a reason for that?"

"It's Halloween."

"Yeah, I know."

Mary looked around, slightly unsure of where they were. "Are we close? I'm starting to feel sick."

"Another minute. Please don't throw up in my car."

"I won't, you butt."

Wilson started cracking up. "Did you just call me a butt?"

"I sure did." She smiled. "Why did we never end up together, huh? Why did we break up and then marry these crazy people?"

"Hey," he said, "don't call my wife crazy."

"It takes one to know one." Mary dry heaved. "Are we here yet?"

"Yes, yes, we're here." Wilson pulled into the Camden's driveway slowly.

"All right. Thanks for being the designated driver. I'm going to go spend the next three hours over the toilet, and then sleep this off. But, overall, I had a lovely evening."

"OK, have a nice evening Catwoman."

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A/N: This chapter was so dumb. Beyond dumb. But oh how I love it. I'm not sure if any of my jokes make sense, though. They do to me. If you didn't get them, just pretend like I was funny. Humor my humor. (Ha ha ha I crack myself up.)

Anyway, if this were an imperfectly perfect world, this is where Wilson and Mary would have gotten together. The story would have been way better if Wilson ditched Corey and the candy, went out and got trashed with Mary, and then woke up with her the next morning. See? Doesn't that sound amazing? That's what I should do for NaNoWriMo next year. Something outlandish.

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Wait wait wait. Before I leave you. Next chapter is nice. I like it. Wilson and Corey convo. Even if you hate them together (which I do, so I understand) give them a chance in this chapter. It'll be just about the last time of redemption for dear, evil Corey.

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I know you're waiting for hung over Mary. It will be a sight. Review.

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	10. Chapter 10

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Wilson let himself into his house quietly. He was trying to sneak inside so that Corey wouldn't see him, and he could at least get to sleep on the couch. Just as he was about the creep down the hallway, he saw a dark shadow lurking in the background. He stopped, shoulders slumped down, and didn't move. He thought, why he was unsure, that maybe it was best if he let her say something. But she didn't. She didn't say anything for a while. Corey and Wilson had a "stare down" in the dark when they couldn't even see each other's eyes.

"Are you waiting for me to talk?" Wilson said, finally cracking under the pressure.

"Maybe."

"Well, I was waiting for you." She still didn't say anything. "Um, I'm sorry."

"For?"

"For talking to Mary. I understand."

"No you don't. That's why I'm so mad. I know I'm your second wife, and I have to grapple with that every day, and now if you are sneaking around behind my back tomcatting around with her then-"

"I'm not sneaking. I'm not doing anything. And what, what does Becca have to do with this?"

"I'm not your first," she conceded.

"I wasn't your first either. We both had kids with other people. We knew all of that coming into this marriage."

"That's not what I meant. I wasn't talking about sex. I was talking about spouses. I was never engaged before you. I'm your second wife and you were engaged to Mary."

"So?" Wilson finally reached to turn on the light. He had to see Corey's face. Maybe that would help him understand where she was coming from. Or, maybe that would stop her from this rambling, since he knew this wasn't leading anywhere good. He sat on the couch in the living room and patted the space on the cushion next to him. "Sit. Explain. I'm not following you."

"There's this inferiority complex that comes with being second. I-"

"I get that. You have a history with Bernadette's father, too. You'll always have this space for him no matter how much of a jerk you think he is or how much you hate him."

She sighed. "I guess. But that's not it."

"Then what is it?"

She sighed. "Nothing. Forget it. I'm just being stupid."

"Are you sure?"

She smiled, trying to reassure him, and herself, that she was. "Yes."

"OK."

"But," she said, "I'm still mad at you. You're sleeping here tonight."

"Oh, come on. After I sat here and tried to be all sensitive you're kicking me out?"

"Yup. You were on the ground with her, Wilson!"

"Fine. I just want to get some sleep. Today has been such a long day."

Corey walked away without saying good night. Wilson laid down on the couch and rolled over onto his side. He couldn't believe that Corey was jealous of Mary. She had no reason to be. Sure, he had loved Mary at one time, but he didn't anymore. He'd always felt a strong loyalty to the person he was with. Even if things were shaky, and even if things were shaky with Mary and her husband, Wilson would never cheat on Corey. He loved her too much to do that. And, quite frankly, he never saw the appeal.

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The next morning, Wilson decided that the right thing to do would be to call Mary. The more he thought about it, he more he realized that he pretty much pushed her out of his car and drove off. No friend should do that, even if that friend was afraid of the power of his wife waiting for him at home. After about four rings, she answered.

"Hello?" her voice was hoarse and she seemed groggy.

"Hey Mary. It's Wilson."

She groaned. "Shh."

He laughed at her, but a quiet laugh. "Sorry." He lowered the volume of his voice. "How are you doing?"

"Um," she rubbed her hand over her face, "not good."

"That's what I figured. I just wanted to check on you."

"Whatever."

"All right, well, have a good day."

"Uh huh," and she hung up.

Wilson sat there, wondering if she was still drinking. Then he thought about where she was. She said she didn't want to go home. Maybe she hadn't. He didn't know what it was, and he didn't know why he thought so, but something wasn't right with Mary. He sat there, thinking about what to do next. This whole thing was beginning to go horribly wrong. Wilson reached into his wallet and checked to see how much cash he had on him. Nine dollars, perfect. He'd have just enough to get some cheap bouquet of flowers at the grocery store on his way home from work for Corey. For some reason, he felt he needed to get them. Maybe not for last night, but for future nights to come.

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After dinner that night, the doorbell rang. A feeling of fright went through Wilson, especially when Corey went to answer the door. When she opened it, Wilson could feel the chill from the outside charge through the room.

"Oh, Mary. Hi."

"Hi Corey. Is Wilson home?"

"Yes, he is, but he's busy right now."

Mary shook her head as she saw Wilson come to the door from the back.

"Hi Mary."

"Hi. Could I come in? I wanted to talk to you, both of you."

Wilson looked back at Corey, who was glaring at Mary. He hated being this torn, and really was starting to develop some resentment toward Mary for constantly making him feel this way. "Yeah, I guess. Come in."

Mary made herself comfortable, sitting on the couch that Wilson had to sleep on the night prior because of her. She waited for Wilson and Corey to join her. Corey refused to sit on the couch with the woman who made her so afraid, and Wilson knew that he wasn't allowed to sit unless Corey did. Mary swished around in her seat, waiting and waiting.

"Going to join me? Anyone?"

Corey glared at Wilson and then finally sat. Wilson followed suit. "So?" Corey said. Wilson nudged her with his foot. He didn't like her being rude.

"I wanted to apologize for what I did last night. Not that I did anything," Mary said, desperately trying to save her name, at least in her own mind.

"If I accept, will you be done with us?"

"Fine. Whatever," Mary said. "I did what I was told to do."

"What?" Wilson said.

Just then, rumblings were heard behind the adults. They could clearly make out Bernadette and Billy grumbling behind them, fighting over something that stepsiblings would squabble about.

Corey turned around. "Kids, come on. Back to your room. This isn't for you." She got up to usher the kids back to their room. She didn't want them knowing that Mary was here or getting any crazy ideas in their head.

Wilson was relieved that Corey left. "What did you say? Who told you to come and apologize? Because you didn't need to."

"Yes, I did."

"No, you didn't."

"Yes, I did," Mary maintained.

"Why?" Wilson finally asked.

"Because."

"You're driving me nuts."

She smiled. "I know."

"So?"

"OK. I know this is going to sound really stupid, but..."

"Yes?" Wilson found himself actually being a bit frightened of what she was about to say next.

"I was sitting in my backyard... I mean, in my parents' backyard," she slowly corrected, "just staring at the grass, when I saw a bird in the corner."

"A bird?"

"Yeah, a bird. And do you know what it said to me?"

"Um, what?"

"It said that I should apologize to you and Corey. I intruded on your life and you two have no obligation to deal with my mess."

"I see," was all he could say.

"So, I guess you could say a little birdie told me."

Wilson laughed along with Mary, just to make it seem as if he didn't think she was completely nuts. "Ha, yeah."

"All right, well, I think I'll go now. That's all I came to say. Besides, it seems like Corey wants me out, and I don't want to cause any problems for you. Or for her either, really."

"OK, if that's what you want."

"I do." Mary stood up, smoothed out her shirt, and waited for Wilson to stand beside her. "I guess I'll see you around or something, since I always see you around it seems."

"Yes. I'm sure we'll meet again."

"You can count on it." Mary smiled at Wilson, nodded her head, and then left the house, leaving Wilson to wonder. A bird talked to her? Was there even a bird actually in the backyard? Was she really in the backyard to begin with? This was starting to cross over to the realm of ridiculous.

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A/N: With the introduction of the bird, I want to make my readers aware that this is not going to be just a typical "Wilson helps Mary" story. Carlos isn't going to come back and fix everything. There is something else… something else dumb. The last line of this chapter is more of a personal comment to myself than anything else.

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Let's all go to the 'realm of the ridiculous.' Please review.

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	11. Chapter 11

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Wilson got up on Sunday morning determined to go to church. Corey wasn't exactly the religious type, so he was pretty sure he would be able to go without her. He just had to tell her that he was going and make sure a giant fight didn't ensue, as usually happened in their house. Usually, he would be up to the challenge of trying to get Corey to come to church with him, but this morning he was going to the GlenOak Community Church- the one crawling with Camdens.

He was able to get away without much work, except to tell Corey that he would rather to go church without Billy when she asked if he wanted to take him. He told Corey that he just wanted to go alone, but really he had ulterior motives.

Wilson wanted to check on Mary. If she wasn't there, he was going to poke around her family to see what they knew. If she was there, he was unsure whether he was going to just observe or actually confront her; it depended on what he saw in front of him.

He arrived on time to church, if not a little early. Wilson always liked to be punctual. He was lucky that he was able to walk in with the masses that attended the church every Sunday, and was not seen by a single Camden. He sat about in the middle of the church, on the left side- not the right side, since Wilson figured it would be harder to see him if he were directly behind them than if he were on their side.

Wilson stared at the Camdens in front of him. He waited and waited to see if Mary would come in, but when the sermon started, he assumed she wasn't coming. He would be right. The whole time he was there, he thought about talking to the Camdens rather than listening to the sermon himself. He really felt like he needed to say something and, the more he thought it over, the more he was certain.

His next task was to pick the right Camden to share this information with. Wilson wasn't too keen on the idea of telling Mrs. Camden or Reverend Camden, but he had to tell someone old enough and wise enough to do something. As much as he didn't want to talk to Lucy, he felt she was his only option. He just hoped against hope that she wouldn't make a bigger deal out of this than it should be.

Finally, the sermon ended and Wilson stood. He went straight over to Lucy and immediately noticed that she was with child. Pregnant women always made him a little scared, ever since Billy was born. Wilson was honestly scared, after all these years, that Lucy would drop dead right in front of him- simply because she was pregnant.

Lucy was so excited to see him. "Wilson!" she gushed, and quickly wrapped her arms around him.

"Hey Luce." Wilson noticed Lucy's husband walk up behind her, quickly getting defensive and territorial. He slowly released Lucy.

Lucy turned around to Kevin. "Kevin, this is Wilson. Wilson, Wilson West. Mary's... from Buffalo." She struggled to accurately define Wilson.

"Oh, hi." Kevin reached out and shook Wilson's hand. "So, you're the guy from Buffalo? You must know Ben then."

It took Wilson a few seconds for it to click. "Oh, yeah, the firefighter. Sure."

"I'm his brother."

"Oh, um, OK." Great, Wilson thought, just great. "So, Lucy, I was wondering if I could talk to you for a second."

"Sure," Lucy said with a smile. She was completely clueless.

Wilson waited for Kevin to leave before he started speaking. "If I tell you something, ask you something, could you keep it private?"

"I guess so, yeah. Is everything OK?"

"That's what I wanted to ask you."

Lucy took Wilson's arm and ushered him over to the side where things were quieter. "Well, I'll help you in any way I can."

"It's about Mary."

A worried expression quickly grew on Lucy's face. "You've seen Mary?"

"Yeah. I ran into her a few times, and then she ran into me a few times."

"And?"

"And, I wanted to know... I don't know, what's going on with her or something like that."

"Well, we don't really know. She just showed up about a month ago with a suitcase. Everyone's called Carlos, the husband, but he won't tell us much besides that she just up and left, which we all assumed anyway."

"I see."

"Where did you run into her? She leaves in the morning and doesn't come back until late at night. We have no idea where she goes or what she's doing."

"Well, first I saw her at The Promenade, then at the park, then in the parking lot of the drug store." He stopped, unsure if he should continue.

Lucy knew there was more that Wilson didn't want to say. "If you wanted to know if we're keeping an eye on her, we are. But Mary's... Mary. She doesn't want any help and we don't know what's going on, so we wouldn't know how to help even if we wanted to." Wilson didn't speak. "Do you know? Did Mary tell you what happened, why she left?"

"Yeah, kind of," Wilson said. Mary told him as much as she knew anyway.

"And you're not going to tell us, are you?"

Wilson shook his head. "I can't. She'd- I can't. I'm sorry." He sighed. "This probably was a bad idea. I can't help you any and I don't know how much I can get you to help me."

"No, no," Lucy said reassuringly. She didn't want Wilson to get the wrong impression. "You're just concerned about her. It's natural. Don't feel bad."

"OK." He smiled at Lucy. "But I am sorry that I dumped this on you. I just don't know what else to do."

"Do you think she needs help this bad?"

"I don't know. I'll keep an eye on her... if I see her again."

"I bet you will. Every few years you two seem to find each other again."

"Yeah, I guess so." Again, he smiled. "Thanks for your help Lucy."

She smiled her patented Lucy smile. "You're welcome."

-

"How was church?" Corey asked Wilson when he came back into the house.

"Fine."

"And Mary?" Corey was no fool. She knew when Wilson said he was going to church that it had something to do with Mary. Church had always been synonymous with the Camden family in GlenOak.

"Uh..." Wilson stammered. "Why do you ask?"

"Well, I know you went to church. You never go to church."

"Not never," Wilson replied, trying to divert her attention.

"Rarely ever then. So how is she?"

Wilson turned away from Corey. He wasn't strong enough to look in her face. "She wasn't there."

"Then who did you talk to? One of her crazy siblings?"

"Her family's not crazy."

"Ooh, did you talk to her sister? She's the craziest out of all of them."

"Lucy's not crazy."

Corey walked over, right in front of Wilson, and turned his chin with her hand. "So you talked to Lucy?"

"Yes." Wilson sighed and removed her fingers from his face. "Corey, I don't want to be involved. I don't. That's why I went to Lucy. But I'm not one to just sit by and watch Mary go crazy."

Corey looked more than a little annoyed. "I know, and that's sweet of you to say, but it's not your problem. She's not your problem. She has her own family and you have yours. You've got your own wife and your own kids to take care of."

"I know."

"But, if you swear nothing is going on-"

"Corey, I swear to you. There is nothing romantic going on with Mary. I don't have any feelings like that toward her. But something is wrong and all I'm trying to do is make sure that she's OK."

"Well, if you truly believe that," Corey squirmed in her seat, "then you should invite her over for dinner one night."

Wilson raised his eyebrow at her. "What are you up to?"

"Nothing. I want to see what I think is wrong with her. We used to be friends, kind of. Mary was never one to let people in. And I get that, because I never let people in, because of Bernadette."

"Are you sure about this?"

"Yes. Ask her to come over on Wednesday. My mother doesn't work that night and I can take the kids over to her house."

Wilson hated the last part of the plan, but agreed to it anyway. He didn't see any other choice.

"Speaking of the kids," Corey continued, "Billy's fighting with Bernadette again. I tried to get him to stop but he wouldn't listen to me." Wilson nodded and began to walk away from her and to Billy and Bernadette's bedroom. "We need to do something about them, something about us. We need to blend as a family."

"Uh huh," Wilson yelled back as he walked away. "I'm on it!" He walked to the kids' bedroom and knocked gently on the door.

Bernadette came walking out. "Are you here to talk to Billy?"

He smiled. "Yes, I am."

"Can you tell him to stop being so mean? All he does is yell at me."

"I'll see what I can do, OK?"

Billy walked to from behind the curtain that separated the room and went over to his father. "Yes Dad?"

"I want to talk to you for a second."

"Can we go outside? I don't want anyone listening to us."

"We're all family here son," Wilson said, proud that he was able to start accomplishing the task that Corey had set out for him so early.

"Still."

"Fine." Wilson and Billy walked out of the room and outside to the front stoop. "Now, what's going on with you? Corey told me you and Bernadette are fighting."

"Dad?"

"Yeah?"

"I can't stand girls."

Wilson laughed heartily. "Oh, well, you say that now. Things will change."

"I don't think so. They whine too much. How do you stand it?"

"I don't have to stand it," Wilson tried to explain. "I love Corey."

"But doesn't she get on your nerves?"

"No."

Billy pointed his finger at his father. "Don't lie to me."

Wilson decided to level with his son. "Living with other people is tough. Even you get on my nerves sometimes."

"I do?"

He laughed. "Yes, you do."

"What about Mary?"

Wilson was kind of taken aback. "What about her?"

"Did she get on your nerves?"

Wilson tried to hide the smile that grew on his face from remembering old times. "Mary would get on my nerves all the time."

"Is that why you didn't get married?"

"No. We didn't get married because we weren't meant to get married. I was meant to be with Corey."

Billy shook his head. "I don't understand."

"All right, but we're getting off topic. I'm supposed to be finding out why you're so angry."

Billy sighed. "I don't want to tell you."

"Why?"

"I don't like Corey or Bernadette."

Wilson again had to hide his smile. This wasn't a smiling occasion. "I know. But you're going to have to deal with it. They're not going anywhere."

Billy stood up. "I don't know..." He laughed a little. "Mary's back."

"Speaking of Mary," Wilson said, stealing the 'speaking of' phrase that Corey had used a little while before.

Billy perked up. "Yes?"

"Can I tell you a secret?"

"A real secret?"

"Kind of."

Billy looked excited. "OK. Tell me."

"Mary's coming to dinner."

"Here? Really?"

"Yup."

Now Billy was confused. "So, if you love Corey, why are you going on a date with Mary?"

"It's not a date. Corey suggested that I invite Mary over for dinner. Corey used to be friends with Mary back when the two of them were in high school, you know."

"Yes, I know." He sighed heavily. "So, it's not a date?"

"No just dinner. But I don't know if Corey wanted you to know that Mary is going to come over, so pretend like you don't know."

Billy smiled proudly, happy that his father would entrust him with such knowledge. "All right Dad. You can count on me."

"I knew I could, Bud. Now, be nicer to your stepsister and go play, OK?"

"OK."

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A/N: Billy is my festering subconscious. But what about Mary? Don't you love her? Billy is everything that is right and good with the world. I wish I could take complete credit for him.

Anyway, this whole part about the dinner and I think maybe the entire next chapter of the dinner was an afterthought. Somewhere toward the end I realized I was going to run out of story before I reached 50,000 words, so I added this in. Besides, it served a dual purpose. It makes Corey seem humanlike instead of a slave to the anger inside of her.

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I want my mullet back, Bud. Review.

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	12. Chapter 12

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Mary rang the doorbell to Wilson and Corey's house at exactly 6:29 PM, one minute earlier than they asked her to arrive. One of Mary's pet peeves was lateness, so she always made sure she made it to her destinations on time. She had arrived at the house at a little before 6:00, just to make sure she could control the precise moment she arrived.

Mary was no fool. She knew that when Wilson called and asked her to come to dinner that Corey had put hi up to it, and that the only reason she invited Mary was to see how Mary was acting and make sure that she was not flirting with her husband. Mary had thought originally that she was going to mess with Corey's head and make a few passes at Wilson, but then recanted her decision upon thinking that Wilson was too good of a person and too good of a friend to do that to. It would only create trouble for him and nothing for her.

Corey opened the door with a bright and cheerful smile wearing a simple blue cardigan and jeans. "Hi Mary. Welcome." Corey stepped aside so that Mary would be able to enter the house.

"Hi."

Wilson entered from the back, wearing his signature black sweater like his usual pair of khakis. "Hi Mare."

Mary smiled genuinely. "Hi Wilson. Thank you both so much for inviting me into your home."

Corey smiled. "It's our pleasure, really. Now I hope you like spaghetti and meatballs."

"I do."

Corey walked away into the kitchen and left Wilson and Mary alone, keeping an ear out to hear what was going on in the other room.

"Thanks for having me Wilson."

He smiled. "No problem. We'll eat in about ten minutes or so."

"OK, great."

"So how was your day today?" Wilson asked, genuinely concerned about Mary.

"Not bad." She smiled back at him. "And yourself?"

"Pretty good." He sighed. "I hope this isn't weird for you or anything."

"Like I said over the phone, it's not. Well, it is a little, but not really. I have my own family, you have yours. We're both adults here." Wilson still didn't look too comfortable or convinced. "I'm not going to stand up and profess my love for you in the middle of the meal, don't worry."

Corey walked in from the other room. "That's good to hear." She looked over at hr husband, who was turning bright red. "Mary, can I get you something to drink?"

"No, that's all right. I'm fine."

"Are you sure? I feel bad that dinner wasn't ready when you got here."

Mary smiled politely at Corey, continuing on with the female pleasantries. "Don't be silly. It's always nice to be cooked for and to enjoy a meal with some old friends. You're doing more than enough already."

Corey smiled back, looking Mary square in the eye with a look that told Mary not to put any moves on Wilson or Corey would kill her. Mary continued to smile back, knowing very well what Corey was saying to her and trying her best to convey that she would honor Corey's wishes.

"Five more minutes," Corey said loudly from the kitchen.

"OK dear," Wilson said back.

Mary looked back at Wilson, feeling out of place. "Should I go into the kitchen and help her or something?" she asked with a lowered voice.

"No, don't worry about it. Our kitchen is small and, besides, I don't think she really wants the help. She's almost done."

"So I should just stand here?"

"No," he said. "You can sit if you'd like."

"That's all right. I don't want to seem too forward with you." Mary lowered her voice to a whisper. "I know she doesn't want you with me." She raised it back up to a normal level. "And I totally get that."

Now it was Wilson's turn to whisper. "She's usually not that jealous. I think it's just you, no offense."

Mary laughed. "None taken. I guess I should be flattered, actually."

"If that's the way you want to take it then fine."

"Wilson!" Corey yelled out from the kitchen. "Could you help me put the plates around? We can eat now." Without a word, Wilson went silently into the kitchen to help his wife. "Mary, you can take a seat in the dining room. It's right in front of the kitchen."

Mary did as Corey instructed and took a seat in the middle of the table, a seat she felt was not normally occupied by either Wilson or Corey. The last thing she wanted to do was sit in the wrong place. "Um, should I sit anyway specific?" she asked aloud because she was so afraid of doing something wrong.

"No, just wherever," Wilson answered.

Mary heard Corey whisper something to Wilson and then the two of them emerged with three plates of pasta, a bowl of salad, and a plate with rolls on it. Corey placed a plate in front of Mary and Wilson set up the serving utensils for the rest of the food.

"Help yourself to the rest, Mary," Corey said.

"OK." She reached and put some salad on her plate. "It all looks delicious Corey."

"Thank you."

Mary waited to see if they were going to say grace before they ate. Her family usually did at dinner, but since she had married Carlos, Mary had stopped saying it. She didn't peg Wilson or Corey as the type to pray before a meal, not that she was passing any sort of judgment on them. Wilson took a bite of his meatball, so Mary knew it was safe to chow down. She took a bite, and then Corey followed.

"It's really good Corey, thank you."

"Oh, it's just spaghetti."

"Still," said Mary.

"So," Corey continued, "Wilson tells me your back here from New York City?"

"Yes." Mary fixed her eyes on her food. This was the last thing she wanted to talk about.

"Why are you back?"

"Corey-" Wilson said. He knew exactly what she was doing. So did Mary.

Mary didn't speak for a few moments. She had to come up with a good enough answer that was not a lie, but didn't sound as bad as the truth. "Well, it was time for a change I guess."

"Any particular reason?"

"Corey, that's enough. She's our guest," Wilson said.

"Fine, fine, fine. I'm sorry Mary."

"It's all right. I understand." She understood that Corey hated her guts for rekindling something with her husband and she understood that she was more embarrassed about her current situation than she had realized before. Mary was eager to change the subject. "So you two just moved into this house?"

"Unfortunately," Corey answered, "yes."

Wilson smiled. "Corey doesn't like it much, but it was either move out into this or stay living with her mother for another year."

"I see."

"I assume you lived in an apartment in New York."

"Corey, enough," Wilson repeated sternly.

Mary shrugged off Wilson's comment. "Yeah. It was nothing special, but I loved it. ...I don't think I'll ever be able to go back there though. I doubt no one will want me there, myself included perhaps. We'll see."

"You and your husband had a falling out?"

This time, Wilson kicked Corey's shin under the table.

"You could say that, yes."

"Do you think you'll patch things up?"

"I don't know." Mary swallowed the food she had in her mouth. "I doubt he'd want me anymore." She shrugged. "I wouldn't want me."

"Oh, Mary, don't say that," Wilson said against his best instincts. "If Carlos took you back he would be a lucky man."

This time Corey kicked Wilson under the table. "Ow!"

"Sorry," Corey said. "My foot slipped."

"But, um, it's OK. I'm used to screwing things up and disappointment." Mary took a bite of her meatball and slumped her head. "You know, that gym thing was just the start of my life going down the toilet. It's been years. I should have seen this coming."

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Wilson knocked on the door of Reverend Camden's office. He had stopped by after work and was relieved when he saw that the reverend was still there. What he wanted to say to him couldn't wait, and Wilson didn't want to have to call him and tell him over the phone.

Eric looked up. "Wilson! Hello! I haven't seen you in years. How have you been?"

The two men briefly embraced.

"I've been all right." Wilson took a seat in front of Reverend Camden's desk. "But I didn't come here to talk about myself."

"All right." Eric sat down in his own chair. "What's on your mind?"

"Mary."

Eric looked confused. "Aren't you married?"

Wilson rolled his eyes in a frustrated manner. "Why does everyone keep bringing that up?"

"Oh, jeez. Sorry," said Eric. "Now what about Mary? You've been seeing Mary?"

"If you mean seeing her as in speaking with her occasionally and bumping into her, then yes. We're not dating or anything like that."

"All right, then-"

"Something's wrong with Mary. She's depressed or... I don't know. She's off."

"I know. She split up with that husband of hers. Carlos."

"Yeah, she mentioned that."

"So she's been talking to you about that sort of thing?"

"A little."

Eric perked up. "Then do you know what's going on with the two of them? She won't tell us anything."

"Well..." The last thing Wilson wanted to do was betray Mary's trust. "She didn't really say much, no."

"Oh." Eric sulked. "Then..." He was confused.

"I'm worried about her. She's changed, and not in a good way."

"All right." Eric didn't know what else to say.

"Well, you might want to do something, that's all."

"OK, Wilson. I don't know what I'm supposed to do, though. Mary's, well, Mary's just Mary. She needs to learn to make it on her own."

"See, I disagree. With all due respect, Sir, I think it's time to step-in before someone gets hurt."

"Someone meaning Mary?"

"Yes. She's not..." Wilson searched for the right word to describe what he had observed.

"Stable?"

"Yeah, that works." Eric didn't say anything else. "Well, OK then. I just wanted to say something. If something were to happen, I don't think I would be able to live with myself knowing that I could have stepped in and didn't."

"I appreciate your concern Wilson, I do, but I don't know what we can do for her. She's an adult. I can't make her do anything."

"Maybe Carlos can?" Wilson suggested.

Eric laughed. "He's not speaking to her; he's too angry because she left."

Wilson felt he had to stick up for her. "I don't think she's too happy with him, either."

"Yes, I would assume so." Eric stood and shook Wilson's hand. "Thank you for your concern. I'll keep an eye out on her."

"All right. Thank you Reverend Camden." For nothing, Wilson thought, but verbalizing that wasn't going to help. Neither was this visit, though, obviously. He would still have to keep a close eye on Mary, much to Corey's disdain Wilson was sure.

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A/N: This dinner sucked. I don't think I got across enough that Mary was unstable, or unstable enough that Wilson would go to Eric about it. Nothing really works quite right in this chapter. It could stand a bit of editing, I'm sure, but I don't really believe in that so this is what I am sticking with.

Next chapter is pretty good, and really important. Pay attention to the next chapter. It'll come back to haunt you, and Mary. Again and again.

And, I think I said this before, but I don't know why I made the Camdens so horrible this story. They usually take the general position of good or bad in most of my stories, usually some form of bad, but they're just stupidly bad in this one. They're downright nasty and for no good reason than probably just my own amusement. Oh well. It's done.

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A review might make Eric care a little about his eldest daughter.

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	13. Chapter 13

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Mary stood in the front of the line at The Dairy shack. She had wanted some ice cream, so she had arrived there, but now hat she was there, she was having a hard time picking a flavor. The man behind the counter, about Mary's age, was getting annoyed by Mary's indecisiveness.

"I'm sorry," she muttered.

"Might I suggest a classic vanilla or chocolate?"

"I don't know," Mary responded. She stood there for five more minutes and read all of the flavors three times over. Mint chip, rocky road, rum raisin, and chocolate chunk. "You know, maybe I don't want ice cream after all. Sorry." Mary walked away sad. She did want ice cream, but she just couldn't pick a flavor; she was incapable of making that decision. She walked away and sat down on a nearby bench.

As Mary sat there, she remarked to herself about how empty the Promenade was, continually, during the day. She'd frequented the place since her arrival back in GlenOak. She assumed that, by now, her family knew that she was here, and would thank them if she ever got the chance that they didn't come and find her. Mary was at the point where she was afraid to see them. She was afraid they would find out one or all of her many secrets and disown her. Then she would really be on her own, and that Mary simply could not deal with.

Twenty minutes passed. Mary thought about the weather, and how it wasn't as cold out in California as she thought it would be. The few people that did pass, however, were considerably more heavily dressed than she was. Mary thought that was strange, since she didn't find it to be all that cold out. Her mind then wandered to the temperature of New York. This time of year was usually when she would have to break out her big down coat and start looking for a new pair of gloves.

Out of the corner of her eye, Mary saw Carlos walking toward her. She did not turn to him, but instead waited for him to come to her. He approached her silently, stood next to her, and then spoke.

"Is this seat taken?"

His faint Spanish accent made her swoon. "No."

"Good," he said, and sat.

"What are you doing here Carlos?"

"Do I need a reason to come see you? You took off in such a rush, honey. I miss you terribly. Please come home."

"I can't."

"Why not?"

"Because. I can't take back what I did."

"Oh yeah? And what did you do?"

A tear slid down Mary's face. "I abandoned my family. That's unforgivable."

"I forgive you."

Now Mary was getting angry. "You can't. You can't just forgive me. Stop being so nice to me! There's no way you could understand."

"Understand what?"

"What I'm going through."

"What are you going through?"

"I don't know. But everything is wrong. I don't feel like myself. Everyone can see that I've changed and they're out to get me. They're out to grab me and take me back to New York and make me be normal again. Is it my fault if I don't want that life anymore?"

"Of course not." Carlos reached over and grabbed her hand. "You can do whatever you want. You're an adult now. No one can tell you what to do."

"That's right," she said confidently. "They can't."

"But, I can tell you what I think you should do. You know, if I were in your situation."

"Oh yeah, and what's that?"

"Kill myself."

Mary gasped. "What?"

"Well, it's just that if I didn't have you and I didn't have Charlie, why would I live, right? There'd be no reason or me to be here. I'd be better off not getting in the way." Mary didn't respond. "Do you feel like you're getting in the way?"

"I don't know." She shrugged. "A little."

"Well," Carlos released her hand, "you know what I would do."

Mary looked away and then looked back. Carlos was gone. The only thing Mary was left with was the sound of his voice, the voice of the man she trusted more than anyone else's in the whole world, telling her that she didn't have a reason to live anymore.

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Mary arrived back at her parents' house early that night, around 10:00. She was so afraid to get out and see one of them that she decided that she would sleep in her car. She had a change of clothes in the back seat, which would be enough to drape over her and keep her warm. Mary felt an undeniable need for sleep growing within her. She wasn't tired, but she wished to sleep. She felt sleep would cure all her sins and that tomorrow would bring great things. Today had been a strange day.

Just as she had curled up with her t-shirt under her head as a pillow and her sweatshirt as a blanket, Mary heard a knock on her window. She was afraid to look up and see who it was, but she knew she had to. Of course, when she craned her head to see who was outside, it was Lucy. It was always Lucy. Lucy or her father- neither of which ever had the ability to let Mary live anything down. They both viewed Mary as the same rebellious seventeen year old girl she was the night she wrecked her school gym. That girl had long grown up.

Mary sat up and opened her door.

"Can I come in?"

"No."

"OK then. Why don't you come in? You're going to freeze out here."

"No, I'm not. I've got clothes. I'll be fine. Good night."

"Mary, we're all worried about you," Lucy said. She didn't know what else to say to get through to Mary.

"That's great. Good night." Mary closed her door.

Lucy opened it again. "Mary, stop this nonsense," she ordered

"Lucy, I can't deal with you right now. Leave me alone."

"No. I won't leave you alone. You're sleeping in your car in front of the house. What's wrong with you?"

"Nothing is wrong with me. I'm fine. This is how I've chosen to live my life."

"From your car?"

"No, away from you."

"Away from me or away from everyone?"

"What's the difference? I can't talk to you without talking to everyone else and I don't want to talk to any of you. Now go away. Go back to your perfect life and stay away from me."

Lucy was this close to telling Mary that if she didn't want the family around her then she shouldn't have come home, but she bit her tongue. Mary would definitely be deemed as a flight risk, and if she were to be the one to make Mary leave Lucy would never be able to live it down. She'd have even less of a chance if, heaven forbid, something were to happen to Mary. It was all too risky. Instead, Lucy walked away without another word. She didn't have another word to say. This whole thing was making no sense to her.

As Lucy walked back to the house, she decided she had to make a choice. She needed help on this one. Either Wilson or Kevin would have to do the job. Whenever dealing with Mary, Lucy always required backup. Now that she was a minister and made a career out of helping people, it pained Lucy to have to ask for help in regards to her own sister, but these were the things that Mary made the people in her life do. Things that were uncomfortable and unnecessary. This was why, as much as they loved Mary, they all dreaded having her around. She brought nothing but confusion.

Lucy walked away from Mary and back into the Camden's house. She went up to her bedroom that she and Kevin shared, Simon's old room, and huffed as she walked through the doorway.

"Kevin," she called out.

Kevin walked out from near the closet to the door. "Yeah?"

"I need your help."

"OK, with what?"

"Mary." Lucy slumped down on the bed and Kevin followed her. "She's gone insane."

"No she hasn't."

"Yes, she has. She's sleeping in her car in the driveway tonight and refuses to come inside the house."

"Oh."

"Exactly," said Lucy.

"So what am I supposed to do?"

"I don't know. Go, go talk to her. See what she says. Maybe she'll talk to you since you're not a Camden."

"Well, I've been around you all long enough" Kevin said as he stood.

"Yeah, but still." Lucy stood and started pushing Kevin out. "Go."

Kevin thought the whole way down the stairs and outside about what he should be saying to Mary. Sure, her life affected Lucy's, which in turn affected his, but he didn't feel he was in any place to meddle. Mary was an adult and if she wanted to sleep in her car then so be it. Still, he had to follow Lucy's orders. He was in no mood to face her wrath if he didn't.

Kevin knocked on the window. Mary rolled over but refused to acknowledge Kevin's presence.

He decided to talk to the closed window if she wouldn't let him in. "Hello Mary. I came out here because Lucy told me to, as I'm sure you guessed. She's worried about you. I guess they all are.

"Whatever it is, you should know that Lucy and I would love to help you in any way we can." Kevin stopped, wondering if she could hear him through the glass or not. "All right, well, that's it. Have a good night."

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A/N: Kevin and Mary's relationship was always something that interested me. Not that I want them together or anything, but they would have been way better than Lucy and Kevin. They would have had a better friendship than he and Lucy have marriage. I think in a lot of my stories I end up having a Mary/Kevin conversation, probably because he's a good person to have reach out to her when she goes through her crazy antics. He's half-Camden, half-human, like a hybrid of sorts. Well, now a days he seems all Camden, but still. Why split hairs.

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Review or go sleep in your car.

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	14. Chapter 14

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Mary stopped her car at a red light. There was a lane of traffic to her left and a lane to her right. This light was particularly long, so she looked over at the people on her sides. To her left, Mary saw Carlos. To her right, she saw Charlie. Baby Charlie was sitting at the wheel of a car driving. Mary knew that couldn't be real. Still she stared at Charlie, wanting him to look at her. She wanted to pick him up and hold him in her arms. She wanted her baby back.

A car horn blew behind her. Mary looked up. The light had turned green.

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Mary decided she should go to the movies. It would help her get her mind off of things and escape the harsh realities of her life for one hundred and ten minutes. Mary sat down in an empty seat. Carlos sat next to her. As more and more people filed in to the theater, they sat around Mary. She felt as if they were all staring at her- that they knew she saw Carlos sitting next to her when he wasn't and they thought she was insane. Twenty-five minutes into the movie her anxiety and paranoia became so intense that she had to leave. She was unable to sit for the rest of the movie.

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Mary's family finally got her to eat dinner with them. She really didn't want to, but she did anyway. She had barely eaten anything in the last couple of weeks and, when she thought about it, she was starving. Mary sat next to her mother. Annie didn't sit when the rest of the family did, seeing as she was the mother and the preparer of the meal. Before Annie got to the table, Carlos occupied her spot. When she sat down, he left. When Annie got up to get the rolls she had forgotten she left warming in the oven, Carlos reappeared. When Annie sat back down, he was gone again. Mary felt like screaming.

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Mary got into the elevator at the mall. She was the only one in there, seeing as it was the middle of the day on a Tuesday and not yet near enough to the holiday season. By the time she got off only one floor up, ten Carlos's had appeared. She stepped off the elevator and looked back inside the doors. No one was there. She needed help.

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Mary sat around her the living room all day, depressed. She didn't have the energy to leave the house. She didn't want to leave the house for fear of seeing him again. Mary thought that, maybe if she just called Carlos, then he'd go away. Then she'd be able to let go of him and move on, since she felt like she couldn't stand to be with him anymore. Mary picked up her cell phone and found Carlos in her address book. She stared at the phone for about fifteen full minutes before working up he courage to press the call button. Carlos answered the phone after three rings.

"Hello?"

Mary's voice was gone. As much as she wanted to respond, she couldn't even make a sound.

"Mary, I know you're there."

Nothing. She wanted to cry, to scream, to show any sort of emotion. But she couldn't. She wasn't strong enough and, above all else, she felt that.

"Fine, Mary. Fine." He hung up.

Mary dropped her phone and leaned back against the couch. Tears poured down her face without her control. Mary felt so helpless, more helpless than she had ever felt before in her entire life. There was no way she could just continue on like this. Something needed to be done and now was a good of a time as any.

Mary picked her cell phone back up and looked for the number to Wilson's cell phone. She went to pres the button but then stopped. She couldn't bring herself to ruin Wilson's life, Corey's life, any life. Hers was screwed up enough. Mary needed to stand on her own two feet. All her life she had leaned on people and that didn't get her anywhere. It was time for Mary to just be Mary.

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Wilson sat in work all day thinking about Mary and what he said to Lucy. He was really afraid that he had caused all these problems for the Camden family by opening his big mouth, and he just didn't know it yet.

He picked up his phone and called Corey, who was sitting at home.

"Hello?"

"Hi honey."

"Oh, hey sweetie. How are ya?"

"I'm fine." He sighed. "Listen, I've been thinking. I know this is going to sound crazy, but just go with it, OK?"

"Um, all right," Corey said.

"If something is ever bothering you, ever, you can tell me. I'll listen and I'll help you. We can face everything together. No matter what. I love you."

"Is something going on?"

"No."

"Then are you dying or something?"

"No. Corey. I just wanted to tell you that I'm here."

"All right. I know. I'm here for you, too. You know, if you ever want to tell me anything. Like now, for instance."

"If I had something to tell I would. But, I love you."

"I love you, too."

"OK, I'll see you tonight."

"Bye Wilson."

"Bye." Wilson leaned back against his chair. This wasn't right. He was never one to sit by and watch as someone spiraled deeper and deeper into her own hole. He picked up his phone and dialed another number.

"Mary?"

"Wilson. Hi."

"Hi." His brain buzzed with suggestions as to the correct thing to say. "How are you doing?"

"Is that supposed to mean something?"

"No. It was just a question." She said nothing. "Can't a friend call to check on another friend?"

"So we're friends now?" she said.

"Sure, why not?"

"Look, Wilson, I appreciate your concern, but I'm fine. I just need to take a little time and collect my thoughts, decide what I want to do from here."

"Yeah, do you have any plans for that, for the future?"

"Not yet. That's why I need my space. Maybe if I can clear my head I can figure things out."

"OK, well, good luck with that."

Mary shook her head. "You don't believe I can figure things out for myself?"

"I didn't say that."

"You didn't have to." Mary rubbed her forehead. "You're a good person Wilson, but don't think that just because you have your life in tact that I'm crazy for not knowing which end is up."

"Mary, I don't-"

"It's OK. It's not important. Nothing's important anymore."

"I'm worried about you."

"Oh, take a number," Mary muttered, and hung up. She couldn't do this with Wilson. She had to do this on her own. It was time.

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A/N: Whatever will happen next? Haha. The point of this chapter was just to illustrate exactly how crazy Mary has gone and to give Wilson a motive for the next chapter. The next chapter would be the "climax" of the story, however, it sucks badly, and I would put the true climax about 5 chapters after that. I'll tell you when I think it is really, and then you can compare.

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Do you see Carlos? Review.

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	15. Chapter 15

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Mary sat in the living room, still. She had been in there for days and days without leaving. She'd only stood up for a total of a thirty second in the past four days. Just before she decided that she was going to get up and seize the day, her mother came inside.

"Mary, time to get up and get out. Let's go."

"Mom-"

"No, Mary. No."

Mary glared at her mother. "I was going to get up on my own."

"Good. Now I want you to go and don't come back in this house until you can perk up a little. You're depressing the entire family."

After much anticipation, Mary stood up. "You know, when you talk to me like that, it hardly makes me want to do anything you tell me to do."

"I'm not supposed to make you want to do the things I tell you, I'm just supposed to make you. I'm your mother; that's my job."

"I see," Mary grumbled as she walked out and toward the stairs.

"So what are you going to do today then?"

"Get out of here," said Mary, "since I'm obviously not wanted."

Annie didn't even take on that battle. She was sick of having to deal with Mary all of the time. It was about time Mary cut the cord from her family and owned up to her own mistakes. Annie always knew she was too boy crazy for her own good. Now she had turned just plain crazy.

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Mary wandered around the streets near her parents' home aimlessly. She felt like nobody wanted her, and that that was her fault. She didn't want anybody. Since she was a teenager, she didn't want to be bothered with anybody else. She was "a bit of a loner," as her mother liked to say, and the older she got the more she liked the company of no one else but herself. Granted, she had liked having Carlos around, at one point in time anyway, but now everything was different. Mary knew that she liked being by herself too much. She was starting to close herself off from everything around her.

Mary wanted to want to be around people, but she didn't have it in her. She had lost interest in all the people and activities she had liked in the past. That was something that she had borrowed from one of those mental health packets they always seem to have in doctor's offices, but it was now applicable to her own life. That scared Mary like nothing else. She was petrified of becoming a statistic, just another one in however many woman that has problems. Whatever was wrong with her, she was that one.

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Few things in life did Mary understand. This was even more apparent as Mary contemplated her life. No matter where she went, no matter what she did, the thoughts in her head remained the same. She always felt the same way. Mary was a transient woman, the nomad of the Camdens, and her life was in shambles because of it. She tried spending her time wisely, looking for a job or something, but she just felt as if she were too damaged or too broken to be worth anything.

Mary tried to come up with reasons why her life was worth living. Usually, the first thing out of her mouth would have been that she had a family who cared about her and who loved her. The family that Mary had created with Carols and Charlie, she abandoned with no real reason other than this voice in her head telling her that she didn't belong. The family she was born into, the family she always was forced to retreat to when she screwed up everything outside of them, couldn't stand her anymore. She didn't have a job, she didn't have any money, she didn't have anything really to speak of.

That was when Mary decided that she had nothing to live for. Sure, "Carlos" had planted the idea in her head about a week ago, but this was practically conceived on her own. This was the first time in Mary's life when she had ever flirted with the idea of suicide. She had never even thought about it before, not even in jest, but now she was serious.

Mary thought about whether or not she was capable of taking her own life.

"Sure you can," Carlos said sitting next to her.

Mary jumped, scared by his sudden appearance. "Will you go away? You're the one who started all of this."

"No I didn't. You did because you're worthless."

"Am I?"

"Yes, you are. You're worthless Mary."

Mary didn't even get emotional at what Carlos said to her. She believed him. "You're right."

"Of course I'm right. I'm your husband. If anyone would know that you're worthless, it would be me."

"Then what do I do now?" Mary knew turning for him for guidance was probably the wrong thing to do, but she had nowhere else to turn.

"You know." Carlos winked at her. "I told you about it earlier."

With that Carlos disappeared, and Mary became frantic. No, she kept thinking. This couldn't be happening to her. Now was not her time to go. But, if Carlos told her, if her mind had convinced her that this was what she should be doing, who was she to interfere with that? Destiny could not be changed, could it?

Mary knew she needed another opinion. She ran through her list of people who she could get in touch with. By the time she finished, she only had two viable options: Wilson and Sarah. She hated so much to bother Wilson, but Sarah was clear across the country. She knew that Sarah could not properly convince her not to commit suicide over the phone. She needed to see someone face to face.

She looked down at her watch. 8:15 PM. He should be home.

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Mary knocked frantically at his door. Wilson answered, saw the tears streaming down Mary's face, and ushered her inside.

"Wilson-"

"Shh," he said to her calmly. "Just sit."

Corey came in, saw them sitting on the couch together, and threw a fit as she stormed out of he living room.

"What's going on, Mare?"

"I don't know."

"Then why are you so upset?"

"If something tells you, well, something, and you think it's wrong, should you listen anyway?"

"What?" Wilson looked into her eyes. He could see how utterly afraid she was.

"Just answer me!" she yelled.

Wilson remained calm. "I'm not sure I understand the question."

"I guess." She sighed. "I guess what I'm asking is if I should value my own opinions even if I don't agree with them."

"Uh..." Wilson stammered. "I don't understand how you couldn't agree with yourself." His eyes stayed fixed on hers. Her eyes darted around and around, not able to remain still. "Are you all right?"

"I can't answer that."

"And why not?"

"Because it kills me to lie to you and I'm not ready to say the truth yet."

Wilson took a deep breath. "I guess I have my answer then." He shook his head. "But, I don't-" He stopped. "I don't know what I'm supposed to do for you. What do you need?"

Mary stood up, breaking Wilson's gaze. "I don't know! I don't know anything!" She started to storm off and Wilson did his best to stop her.

"Wait." He reached out for her arm but missed as she pulled it away from him. "Mary-"

Mary opened the door, gave him a stare that said 'thanks for nothing', and walked out.

Corey entered the living room once she was sure that the coast was clear. She stood behind Wilson, waited until she was sure he had no idea she was there, and then hit his arm- hard. "What do you think you're doing Wilson?"

He spun around to look at her. "What? I'm not doing anything."

"In case you haven't noticed, you already have a wife. You don't need another one. You want problems to fix, I've got plenty. You vowed to take care of me."

"Corey-" Wilson was ready to scream. She just didn't understand.

"You stay away from her or so help me God, Wilson, I'll stay away from you. Permanently."

That was the final straw. "So now you're threatening me?! If I try to help my friend, who's going through an unbelievably hard time right now, that you'll divorce me."

"Don't force my hand, Wilson. I'll do it."

"I don't doubt you," he said, raising his voice, "I just don't believe you."

"Believe it, honey. Believe it."

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A/N: Yeah, this wasn't the chapter that I meant before, but this was a good one. A really good one. Not amazing or anything, but I still shocked myself that this seemed decent. And I love the Mary/Wilson of it all. Perfection. Makes me want to skip ahead to their other part. I think I am going to go read that one now. Haha, you can't. Oh man, what a comedienne I am.

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Review or I'll divorce _you_.

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	16. Chapter 16

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Mary felt her way up the stairs. It was only 9:00 at night, but she was crying so hard that she could barely see where she was going, much less make out the stairs in front of her. Silently, Mary cursed herself for being away from home for so long. She had already forgotten the pattern of the steps and the distance between them.

Because she couldn't see, because she was too upset to take notice, she almost walked right into Ruthie on her way up.

"Mary?" Mary did not respond. "Are you OK?"

Mary sniveled. "I'm just peachy."

"OK, OK. Don't have a cow."

Mary continued on walking.

"Oh, I was supposed to tell you when you got home, if you got home." Now Mary stopped. "Carlos called the house. He said he'd been calling your cell phone all day but you didn't answer."

Mary turned back around and went back down the stairs.

"Hey!" Ruthie yelled out. "I don't even get a 'thank you'?"

Mary sat on the stoop outside and reached in her pocket for her cell phone. This time, she was dialing Carlos's number with a purpose.

"Mary?"

"Why did you call me Carlos? Just to tell me to die again?" Her tears became apparent in her voice. "Does that make you happy?"

"What are you talking about?"

"Oh, you know exactly what I'm talking about." Mary was no longer able to differentiate between the Carlos she had seen in GlenOak and the real Carlos who was in New York.

"No, I don't know what you're-"

Mary hung up on him. She lowered her head into her lap and bawled. She didn't know what to do and what to believe. Nothing made sense anymore.

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She spent two hours outside talking herself into what she was going to do. She knew the consequences of the act she was about to commit, but she didn't care. Her life didn't matter to her anymore. She did the last thing she felt she had to do before she went through with the rash plan she had just made minutes before.

"Hello?"

"Wilson?"

"Mary?"

"Hi. I just wanted to say goodbye."

Wilson put his hand to his forehead. Mary was driving him crazy, too. "What? Are you going somewhere?"

She sniveled and Wilson heard it through the phone, along with her voice faltering as she spoke. "I guess you could say that, yeah."

"All right, well, good luck then."

"Thanks," she said. "I'm going to need it."

Again, he felt the innate need to reach out to her. "If you need anything-"

"I won't. But thank you, Wilson. For everything."

"I don't feel like I did much, but you're welcome just the same."

"Bye Wilson." And she hung up.

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Mary got ready for bed as usual- sort of. She took a shower, brushed her teeth, and put on her pajamas. It was cold outside, so she wore next to nothing. She hoped that if the fall wouldn't get her, the cold would. It was a lame plan, even she would admit, but she needed a backup. These things rarely ever go as they are originally planned; even in Mary's fragile state she knew that.

She looked around the bathroom for the last time. She wanted to soak in the memory. She purposely took notice of the dark blue tile, the beige wicker hamper, the porcelain white tub, and the wet towel that was on the floor from someone who had bathed before her.

When she thought about what she had done, gotten all washed up and ready, she thought it was stupid. It wasn't as if anyone would care if she were clean or not. They wouldn't even notice. She hoped they wouldn't be noticing. That wasn't the purpose of this whole thing, anyway. Mary wanted them to focus on what wasn't there- namely, her.

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Wilson got into bed next to Corey. He rolled over and kissed her good night before returning to his normal sleeping position on his back. He felt her hands slink over to his side of the bed and rub over his stomach, then his chest, and creep up toward her lips.

"Come on," he said to her. "Don't."

"What?" Wilson just rolled his eyes at her. "We've talked about this. It makes me feel like there's something wrong with me when you don't want me."

"It's not that I don't want you. I'm just not in the mood."

"You're such a woman sometimes. I don't know why I put up with you," Corey said jokingly.

"Well, thanks for tolerating me."

"Oh, any time." Corey rolled away from him and reached up to turn off the light. "Good night."

"Good night." Wilson laid in his bed in the dark for an hour or so. He usually could fall right asleep, but not tonight. Hours later, he was still trying to make some sort of sense out of Mary. Wilson was always up for a challenge, and piecing together the pieces that Mary had given him was almost an enjoyable activity for his mind to mull over.

But, curse his intelligence, the more he thought about it the more it all started to make sense. Mary wasn't going on a trip back to New York. She was hoping to force herself to her "final destination" well before her time. Since she called tonight, he deduced this was going to happen tonight. He had to do something.

Wilson sat straight up in bed.

"What is it?" Corey mumbled.

"Nothing. I have to do something. I'll be back in a little bit, OK?"

"Are you leaving the house?"

He didn't answer. "I'll be back in a bit, OK? If I'm not, just go back to sleep."

Corey pulled the covers up closer to her ears. She could not believe him. "Whatever."

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A/N: I know I didn't put this before, but I'm putting it now. Sorry for the extreme lack of updates. It makes no sense, this thing is all written. I'm just a lazy bum. Forgive me.

Next chapter is awful. Again, you have been forewarned.

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What is Mary scheming? Review.

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	17. Chapter 17

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A/N: This is dumb. I don't think there is a better word for it. You've been forewarned.

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Mary rushed through the house in just a light blue men's size extra large t-shirt. She pushed through the door to her parent's bedroom, not caring at all that they were still asleep. Eric and Annie shot up in bed and, after the calamity in their bedroom registered in their sleeping brains, and turned to look at Mary. They were able to see just enough in the darkness to make out a scantily clad Mary throwing open the doors to the porch that extended off of their bedroom and step outside.

Eric didn't know what was going on, but his paternal instincts rose inside of him. As he saw Mary approach the railing and try to ascend it, he reached out to her. Eric put his arms around Mary's waist and used most of his strength to pull her back closer to the house.

"Eric!" Annie screamed out in sheer terror. She had no clue what was going on, so she flipped on the light. What she saw was her eldest daughter wrestling to get away from her husband.

"Get off of me! This is what I'm supposed to do! It's time!"

Eric successfully pinned Mary down on the ground, restraining her as best he could. "What are you trying to do?" Mary didn't respond except to let out a blood-curdling scream. "Annie, call 911."

"But Eric-"

"Annie, do it." He waited until he saw Annie dial before he turned his attention back to Mary. "Were you trying to jump to your death? Was that what just happened here?"

"You're going to have to let go of me eventually. As soon as you do it I'll try it again!"

Annie spoke as calmly as she could into the phone. "Yes, my daughter. I think she- she just tried to jump off our porch. Someone needs to- she need help." Mary certainly needed help.

Ruthie rushed into the bedroom to see what all the yelling was about in the middle of the night. She was startled by what she saw. "What is going on in here?"

"Ruthie!" Eric yelled in sheer exasperation. "Get Kevin. Now." Ruthie stood in fear as she watched Mary squirm around on the floor and Eric struggle to restrain her. "Go!"

Before Ruthie had a chance to scamper off, Kevin was already in the room.

"What the-"

"Help!" Eric said. "She tried to jump out."

"The window?" Kevin asked as he stood there motionless.

"No, off the balcony." Eric rolled his eyes. "Help me now!"

"OK, OK." Kevin came over and took over Eric's job. But first, he waited a second for Mary to get up and run so that he could hold her by the arms and not pin her down on the ground.

"We called the police," Annie informed Kevin.

"I...don't know if you should have done that."

"What? Why not?"

"Because."

"Why Kevin?" Eric demanded.

"They're probably going to commit her. When police officers have an unruly civilian to deal with who tired to commit suicide, the course of action usually leans toward..." He stopped. "I'll explain it to you once they get here."

"I'm not going anywhere except off the balcony!" Mary screamed.

No one spoke after that. Lucy came in, after hearing all the ruckus, and surmised what was going on without having to ask. Sam and David came in from their bedroom, but Lucy got Ruthie to quickly usher them away. They shouldn't be subjected to whatever was going to happen in that bedroom tonight. Three minutes later, sirens were heard in the background. Mary struggled to get away the louder they got, but Kevin was able to successfully keep her at bay.

There was a knocking at the front door.

"Luce, go let them in," Kevin said.

Silently, she did as she was told. Lucy opened the white front door and was greeted by three police officers, all of about thirty-five years of age.

"You're Kevin Kinkirk's wife, aren't you?"

"Yes, I am."

Another spoke up. "You're not the daughter who tried to kill herself then, are you?"

"No." Lucy blinked tears away.

"The little one then?" Lucy recognized this man from church. "We always get calls about teen girls-"

"No. I was my older sister, Mary." She paused. "She's upstairs with my parents and Kevin..." Lucy said, hoping to get them moving.

"Oh, yeah. Right," one of them said.

Lucy led them up the stairs and to the bedroom where Mary was still kicking and pulling at Kevin to get him to let her go. The two of the officers took over for Kevin while one of them tried to talk to Mary. "Ma'am, I'm Officer McMahon. Do you want to tell me what's going on here?"

"These two goons won't let me go, that's what's going on," Mary snarled.

"That's not what I meant," he said. "What happened that made your parents call the police?"

"Nothing."

"Nothing?"

Mary sighed. "OK, OK. I tried to kill myself. And I'm going to keep trying once you all let me go. If not here, then somewhere else. Some way else."

"All right," Officer McMahon said in a calm and clear voice. "If I get them to let you go, will you go talk to me for a little while, say, in the living room?"

"If they let me go are you going to grab me?"

"No. I won't lay a hand on you unless you give me reason to." He paused to give Mary time to think this over. "Is this OK with you Ms. Camden?"

"Yes. And it's Rivera."

Mary and Officer McMahon went downstairs while the two other officers stayed up here.

"I'd have to talk with McMahon," one of the officers, Officer Thomas, said, "but I think we're going to move to have her committed for the seventy-two hour evaluation period thing."

"What?" Annie asked.

"It's an involuntary hospitalization for mentally ill people for seventy-two hours to see how sick they are or not," Eric explained to his wife.

"Oh dear Lord," Annie muttered.

"I know this must be hard for you, but we need to get your story as to what happened and what has been happening."

Eric sighed. "All right. Well, she's been acting strangely ever since she came home again. She used to live in New York City with her husband and her son, but she came back to GlenOak at the end of September." The other officer started writing all of this down. "I don't know what happened, though. She just burst into our room, flung open the doors, and started climbing up onto the railing. I knew she was going to jump, so I grabbed her and had Annie call you."

"Has Mary ever made any threats like this one before?"

"No. Never."

"Do you think she was serious? Do you really think she'd take her life?"

Eric put his face in his hands. This was a lot to swallow. "She seemed pretty intent on it. I'm not sure."

"Well, do you think if she had done this when you weren't in the room, that she would have actually jumped?"

"Yes," Annie spoke. "She's not right. She hasn't been since she came back here. Everyone's been saying it and thinking it but no one has done anything. It's time to do something. We're her family and we love her."

"But Annie, they'll take her-"

"There's no guarantee of anything," said Officer Thomas. "It depends on what your daughter says to McMahon and if she seems to be a real threat to herself or not."

This still upset Eric. "So, if you deem her to be a threat to herself, then what?"

"Then we take her to the hospital, they decide whether or not she needs to stay or if she can go, and then they take it from there."

"All right, well, that's not too bad. Very thorough," Annie said.

"Thorough? Mary's going to get shipped off to the loony bin and that's all you have to say?"

"What am I supposed to say, Eric?"

"Nothing. If you're going to say things like that then don't say anything at all."

-

"So did you really want to kill yourself?"

Mary diverted her gaze from the officer sitting opposite her. "Maybe."

"Maybe?"

"Yes, I did. I do. I'm worthless."

"You think you're worthless."

"That's what Carlos told me. He looked me in the eye and said that I'm worthless and I should die."

"Your husband?"

"Yes."

"But you said that he lived in New York."

"He does."

"Did he tell you this before you left?"

Mary shook her head. "No, about a week ago. I don't know. After I got trashed on Halloween and the bird told me to apologize to Wilson. That's when I started talking to Carlos."

Before Officer McMahon had a chance to question what Mary said any further, there was a knock on the door. The knock was loud and insistent. "I'll get it," he said. "You stay in my sight." He stood up and Mary followed him.

"Wilson!" Mary yelled out. "What are you doing here!"

He let out a sigh of relief, even though she appeared to be angry with him. "You're all right. Thank God."

Now the officer was intrigued. "What do you mean by that?"

For the first time, Wilson took notice of the policeman standing in front of Mary. "Oh, excuse me. Am I interrupting something?"

Mary sighed. "They won't let me die."

"What?" Wilson didn't know how much more of his he could take. Mary made no sense and she was starting to make his head hurt. "Are you terminally ill or something?" he joked.

"She might be," the officer muttered.

Lucy came down the stairs crying. She had heard Wilson's voice from upstairs. "Wilson? What are you doing here? How did you know?"

"Know what?"

"That Mary was going to try and kill herself."

He lowered his head. "I didn't, but I had a feeling. She called me tonight and said good-bye. I got this strange feeling from her. I thought she needed help."

"Who would you be?" asked Officer McMahon.

"Wilson. Wilson West."

"Relation?"

Wilson chuckled. "Well..."

"We loved each other," Mary said. "But now we don't. He's still nice, though."

"Thanks Mare."

"No problem."

"You know," Officer McMahon said as he turned to Mary, "you're a little too congenial for someone who wants to end her life."

"I'm not being congenial," Mary retorted. "How am I supposed to act?"

"Angry? Crazy?"

Now Wilson stepped in. He had to stand up for her if no one else would. "Wait, wait, wait. Don't call her crazy."

"He's not wrong. I am crazy,'" Mary interjected.

"Still," Wilson continued. "If you want to say that about yourself that's one thing. If he says it that's something entirely different."

"Fine," said Officer McMahon. "I'm sorry." He sighed. "I'm going back upstairs. Can you handle her while I'm gone?" he asked Wilson.

Mary sighed heavily and plopped herself down onto the couch. "Oh, he was born to handle me. Don't you worry."

Wilson sat down next to Mary on the couch. He looked over at her wearily and saw all the pain that was in her face. He reached over, picked up her hand, and squeezed it. Mary looked back at him, sad and afraid. Wilson knew though that, in a weird way, she wanted this. He didn't think deep down in his heart that she would actually kill herself, but what he did think was that this was a cry for attention, and one of grandeur at that.

"Why?" he asked, just for the confirmation.

"Carlos told me."

"What?"

"Carlos keeps appearing out of nowhere. He tells me that I'm worthless and that I should kill myself- that that's what he would do if he were me."

He rubbed his fingers over hers. "So you're hallucinating?"

"Yeah." She began to cry. "It's so scary. I know that he's not there, but I still see him. It makes no sense to me. I just want everything to stop. That's why, when he suggested suicide, I went along with it. That was the only way I knew to control all of this."

"That makes sense to me."

"Really?"

"Yeah. Desperate times call for desperate measures."

"So now I'm desperate?"

"Sorry," he quickly recanted. "I didn't mean to-"

"No, no. You're right, anyway."

Wilson smiled at Mary reassuringly. "Whatever they do, whatever they tell you, maybe you should go along with it."

"But what if it doesn't help?"

"Well, then you go from there. But you can't go on living the way you are, can you?"

"No. And even if I could, I don't want to."

"Then follow this through. See what happens."

"Whatever you say, pal, whatever you say."

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A/N: I should have posted this right after I wrote it. Maybe some of the cringing wouldn't have happened then while I was reading it. This is kind of an amalgam of ideas. The balcony thing, that stems from another story idea that I had where I wanted Eric to jump to his death. (I think Mary is supposed to go crazy in the end of that one, too.) And the 72-hour thing is real; I did a lot of research on that for this story a few years ago and then again when I went to write this out.

Next chapter is just weird. It doesn't get better again until about the second to last chapter, and I have no idea when that is coming.

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Reviews are like kittens.

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	18. Chapter 18

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Wilson stumbled in the front door of his house the next morning completely exhausted. He didn't know how he made it home without falling asleep at the wheel. He hadn't stayed up all night since he was in college, and even then it was a struggle.

He switched on the light so he wouldn't walk into anything only to find Corey standing in the living room waiting for him.

"Where have you been?" she iced.

"You're not going to like the answer."

"So? Tell me anyway."

"Corey-"

"No. You walk out, you stay out all night- you tell me what you did. Now."

"Mary called me last night and said goodbye to me."

"So?"

"She hasn't been right lately. I thought about it, and she meant that she was going to kill herself. I knew she did. So I couldn't just leave her alone like that. I had to do something about it."

Corey simply shook her head. "She's not your wife. I am. You need to care less."

"Care less? If I knew that she was going to kill herself, and she did, and I did nothing about it, I wouldn't have been able to live with myself. Plus, her family. They didn't deserve to go through that if it could have been prevented."

"I don't see it that way."

"I knew you wouldn't, but I don't care." He looked at her carefully. "I know I'm your husband, but I'm also my own person. I need to do my own things."

She raised her voice. "With other women?"

"Damn it Corey!" Wilson shot up from the couch. "I love you. You, not Mary, not anyone else. But if you continue with this jealousy bit then I don't know how much longer I'm going to be able to keep on loving you."

That shut Corey up for a few minutes. "Is Mary OK?"

He sighed. "That depends on your definition. Her parents called the cops, they came, deemed her dangerous, they took her to the hospital, and then some doctor said that she has a mental disorder but doesn't need forced institutionalization. However, he did recommend this in-patient voluntary facility about an hour north of here. He said it was very good or something. So the Camdens brought her up there and checked her in. They all went, Lucy and her husband and Annie and Eric. I stayed back to watch the twins- since I was there and all."

"OK," said Corey. It was all she could say. "I hope Mary ends up OK."

"Me, too. Now, if you will excuse me, I have to go take a shower and change for work."

"Yeah," she sniveled. "Go ahead."

Wilson stood up, grazing Corey's legs as he went past her, and walked into the bathroom.

-

Mary was very calm when they brought her into the institution named, brilliantly enough, Sunny Valley Mental Health Care. A nurse whisked her away from her family who was still reeling from the $3200 per month up-front policy, and tried her best to keep Mary as placated as possible for the next few moments. She didn't need to be placated. The more anyone tried to calm her the more she felt like screaming.

"Here you are Mrs. Rivera. Right this way." The nurse, a blond woman of about fifty, very thin, showed Mary to her room.

"Please, call me Ms. Camden."

"Oh...OK."

Mary knew that tone. It was the tone people used when they thought you were nuts. "I'm not crazy," she said aloud. "I don't have some alter ego. That's my maiden name and I abandoned my husband so I don't think it's right to use his."

The nurse smiled at her. "Well, that makes sense I guess." She walked out and closed the door behind her, calling out, "Make yourself at home!"

Mary looked around her surroundings. She dropped the clothes she had in her hands on the bed with plain white sheets and a plain white blanket. She had had hers things in a bag, but when she checked in they rifled through her things and gave her back the things she was allowed to have in Sunny Valley, which was pretty much just a change of clothes for a few days. The walls were white, too. It was like a reverse heaven, Mary thought. A white hell.

Mary hated her new room, but it was private, so she didn't mind it that much. She was expecting to be put in this big long hall of mentally unstable patients, but she was lucky enough not to find that being her situation.

A gentle knock came at the door a few moments after and the same blonde nurse came in.

"Hello, Ms. Camden." Mary couldn't find it within herself to muster up a 'hello'. "I thought I should let you know that you have about three hours to sleep. Wake-up time is 8:00 AM."

"All right, fine."

"I'll be back in around then to give you more instructions."

"OK."

"Any questions?"

"You're not a doctor, are you?"

"No, just an assistant."

"All right. Thank you." The assistant walked out quietly and Mary sat on her bed. It was hard as a rock, but that was to be expected she guessed. Mental institutions aren't supposed to be pleasant at all.

Mary laid back and pulled the white blanket around her. It was freezing in the room and that, coupled with everything else that had happened, was going to keep her up for these three hours of sleep time she had the opportunity to utilize.

Mary laid in her bed recounting the night passed. Her whole family was disgusted with her. They felt like she had failed as a person because she had flaws and because she couldn't hold it together anymore. No one in the family was allowed to show weakness, save the weepy one, Lucy. The problem Mary was having was that she felt the same way with Carlos. Whether or not it had actually happened or Mary was just projecting that feeling onto her relationship with him, she felt like Carlos dominated her emotionally to the point where she had to shut it all off or be eaten alive.

She sat for fifteen minutes, had everyone leave her alone, removed all pressure, and she figured it out. That was all she needed. She should be free to go.

Mary opened her door and walked outside. She went down the hallway for a few feet before someone stopped her.

"Where are you going, Miss?" said a young, buff man. He voice was deep and domineering.

"Oh, I just wanted to..." she thought for a moment, "talk to someone. I need to talk to someone."

"A psychiatrist?"

"Yeah, that'd work. Could I talk to one of them?"

"No. It's 5:24. None of them come in until 7:00 unless there's an emergency."

"Then who can I talk to?"

"There's a counselor here. I could wake her up."

This guy was about her age. Maybe she could get some information out of him. "Does she have any clout around here?"

"Trying to break out?"

Mary chuckled. "Kind of. I sat and I figured things out. I'm ready to go."

"It won't be that easy. You'll be here for at least two weeks until they let you go."

"But, I'm here voluntarily-"

"Yes, but the waiver."

Mary was confused. "What waiver?"

"The thing you signed. That the counselor can explain to you. I'll get her. I'm not really authorized to discuss business like that. Why don't you go back into your room and I'll bring her to you."

Mary groaned. "Fine."

The man walked away and, a few minutes later, a groggy forty-five year old woman trying to be peppy at 5:30 in the morning came over to see Mary. The petite woman smiled at Mary as she entered the room and came over to sit in a chair.

"So, Mary, what seems to be the problem."

"Well, I wanted to leave but that man said that I'm not allowed to for two weeks.'

"Yes, that's true. The waiver that you signed when you came in voluntarily states that you must stay here for two weeks so that we can evaluate you properly."

"But, I've already figured everything out. I sat, and I thought, and I understand now why I did what I did. I'd like to leave."

"We cannot do that Mrs. Rivera, I'm sorry."

"Camden. Please call me Ms. Camden," Mary snarled.

"I'm sorry." The woman smiled. "Ms. Camden, you can't leave Sunny Valley. These are the rules."

"What if I get a lawyer?" No that Mary had the money for a lawyer, but that was beside the point.

"Our waiver releases you of your legal rights that enable you to take action against us. I'm sorry."

Mary stood up and started to pace around. "So what? I'm just stuck here now for two weeks? I have to put my life on hold?"

"No, not necessarily. When your doctor speaks with you tomorrow, he will evaluate how long you need to stay here for. If the says that you should be released, then you are free to go. But..."

Mary sighed. "But what?"

"But I doubt you will be released. The doctors usually like to keep patients here for a few days, at least. I think the quickest anyone has ever gotten out in was five days, but even then that was a special circumstance."

"OK, OK. Fine." Mary sat back on her bed. "Then go back to wherever you came from if you can't help me."

"All right. See you later Ms. Camden."

Mary pushed herself backward and closed her eyes tightly. She was so mad that she was stuck here. At first, she wanted to come here, she wanted some help. Now, she was unsure. This place seemed to be so restrictive that she was ready to scream- and it had only been less than thirty minutes.

Mary continued to reflect and there were two things that she couldn't get out of her mind- Carlos and Wilson. She wondered if anyone would call Carlos, if he would find out about her being in a mental hospital, and what he would think if he did find out after all. She assumed that either Eric would call Carlos, thinking it was the noble and fatherly thing to do, or Lucy would call, feeling sorry for him that his wife had gone insane.

No one in her family seemed to care that something was wrong with her, tonight when things got really bad or any other night when things were just as bad- just less dramatic. The only one who cared about her was Wilson, and she loved him for that. No, she didn't love him the same way she loved Carlos, but she loved Wilson in a friendly manner. She knew that she had loved Wilson at one pint in her life, and that it would be easy for her to fall back into that with him if she chose to, but she didn't want to. It had nothing to do with Wilson being married to Corey, because, frankly, Mary didn't know how long that was going to end up lasting. It was because she really and truly loved Carlos. She had a baby with Carlos, a baby she had given over to him. Everything was different than it was when she and Wilson dated before. Mary had grown up and life was different. There was no way that she would allow herself to fall in love with Wilson again. It was possible, but not what she wanted. He was just a good friend.

Anyway, she thought, she was stuck here now. She thought about being in prison (because that was how she felt), and putting up a picture of Carlos on her wall to pine over like men do with half-naked women in jail. She felt like she wanted...something. She just didn't know what.

A soft knock came at Mary's door. "Let me in," someone whispered.

Thinking this was odd, she stood up and opened the door. Mary found a young girl, an older teen who was quite thin with dark brown hair.

"Um, hi."

"Can I come in, please? If you don't let me in-" Mary opened the door and the girl walked in, "they'll make me go back. Hi, I'm Christine."

"Hi, I'm Mary."

"So, you're new?"

"Yes. I tried to kill myself...yesterday I guess."

Christine made herself comfortable on the edge of Mary's bed. "Why?"

"I don't really know," Mary said, truthfully and because, even if she did know, she wouldn't want to reveal herself to a stranger anyway. "What are you in for?"

"Anorexia."

"Oh..." Mary was unsure of what to say. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be. You didn't give it to me."

"Oh, well, all right."

"So..." Christine crossed her legs. "What's going on in your life? Anything special?" Mary still didn't have a specific answer. "How old are you?"

"Twenty-three."

"Oh. I'm nineteen. Are you married? Single? Working?"

"Married, kind of. It's complicated."

"Ok, I understand. Did you go to college?"

"No. Did you? I mean, do you?"

"I did. And then my mom kept telling me over the phone and things that I'd get fat, gain the freshman fifteen, and then I came home for Thanksgiving, and I guess I gained a few pounds, and my mother kept harping about it, then I stopped eating so that when I came home for Christmas I'd be thinner. I was, then I came home for Spring Break and ended up here."

"Well, that makes sense, I guess."

"Are you from here?"

"I was living with my husband in New York City for the past year and a half until I came back to GlenOak to live with my parents, that's about an hour south of here."

"Oh, OK. I'm live up near Seattle. My parents sent me here since they were so ashamed of me. This was the farthest place still on the west coast that they could find. Anyway, I just wanted to introduce myself. I'll see you tomorrow at group session."

"There's a group session?"

"Oh yeah," Christine said as she stood. "It's tons of fun."

Mary rolled her eyes. "I'm sure it is. So, what's your deal?" she asked. This girl seemed like she desperately wanted some companionship. "Do you know everything and everyone here?"

Christine laughed. "Hardly. I don't really talk to a lot of people here, they're all strange and middle aged, and I hate it here."

"Is it that bad here?"

"It's pretty bad, depending."

"Meaning?"

"Oh, you'll see. I don't want to spoil everything for you." She walked toward the door. "Bye Mary. See you tomorrow... and every day after that for the rest of eternity."

"Bye Christine. Nice meeting you."

"You, too," Christine whispered as she walked out the door and closed it gently behind her, wary of making any noise in the hallway.

Well, Mary thought to herself, even if Christine is younger than her, she seemed normal enough. Maybe being there for two weeks wouldn't be so bad. Maybe this whole thing would really work, she'd be able to figure things out, and she'd be able to go back to Carlos and the baby. For some reason she doubted it, but it didn't hurt to dream- at least, it didn't hurt to dream as long as no one knows about it.

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A/N: So, Sunny Valley? What do you think? This story, like most of my stories, came out of some vision of a scene, a scene that actually doesn't quite happen in this story, but it was set in Mary's white room. I needed a place for her white room. I did do a whole bunch of research about the state mental facilities, which was where she was originally going to be placed, but they seemed to be more for convicts than anything else. That $3200, I like to think that Kevin paid it since he's loaded and Lucy was so emotionally distressed. I don't think it came off so much yet, but the Camdens truly despise Mary in this story with no real motive. I guess I was in an anti-Eric and Annie mood the last few days of NaNo. Speaking of, that was back in November. It's April. Wow.

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Review or I'll pay $3200 for your two-week stay at Sunny Valley.

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	19. Chapter 19

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Mary actually did get a little sleep, about fifteen minutes total she was sure. She groaned when there was a knock on the door to her new room, and a voice accompanying it that was much more chipper than Mary wanted to hear at 8:00 AM.

She rolled out of bed, literally, and opened her door.

"Hi," said the chipper woman on the other side. "I'm Jana. So nice to meet you." Mary groaned in her face. "Well then. Breakfast is served in the mess hall. Everyone must be there in ten minutes and you must eat."

"Whatever," Mary said. This was seeming like a worse and worse idea the longer she stayed and the more people she met.

"I'll be back in ten minutes to escort you to breakfast."

"I really need an escort?"

"It's policy."

"Do you say that a lot?"

The woman thought for a moment. "Well, yes. I guess I do."

"Uh huh," Mary mumbled and shut the door. She went over to the little amount of clothes that she bought and thought about how she would do laundry in this place. She picked out some new clothes, changed quickly, and exited her room. She went across the hall to the communal style bathroom. She had come to find out that the residential floors were separated into wings by gender. It was just like the college dormitory that Mary never got a chance to live in, or had the desire to, either. She thought she was able to sneak in and out without seeing anyone, only to run into Christine on her way through the doorway.

"Oh, hello," Christine said. "Isn't this place just cozy?"

"You could say that, yeah," said Mary. Christine walked to the sink to brush her teeth. "So, tell me about breakfast. Anything I should know?"

"I don't think I'm the best person to ask about food," admitted Christine. "Anorexic, remember?"

"Oh, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to-"

Christine shrugged it off. "Don't worry about it." She turned on the water. "You know, I'm the one who made them institute the 'everyone must eat' rule." Mary didn't know how to react to that and Christine could sense that. "OK," she said as she put the toothpaste on her toothbrush. "I'll see you at the table."

Mary turned around, looked back for a second, and by the time she turned completely around the woman who knocked on her door was in front of Mary's face.

"You found the bathroom. Good, good. Ready for some food?"

"Not really," said Mary, "but let's go."

"That's the sprit." The woman guided Mary down the hall, to the left, and then to the right.

"Now that I have you here..."

"Yes?"

"Can I ask you about getting out of here? I've already spoken to a counselor and she said that I have to stay here for two weeks as per the agreement I signed when I entered, but I think that's ridiculous."

"You think you're ready to leave already?"

"Well, yes. I do."

"No patient can be discharged without first talking to a psychiatrist and, if I remember correctly, you have an appointment with Dr. Perkins shortly after your mealtime."

"Great," Mary said. "Thank you."

Mary sat down at the table in the dining area that this woman showed her to. Mary took in her surroundings. More interesting than the decorating and the architecture this time were the people seated around her at this long table. Everyone around her was a woman; Mary got the feeling that she would never see a man so long as she was here. She figured she was probably better off that way, but it still irked her nonetheless. Most of the women at the table were older than Mary. A few were elderly, but the majority were middle-aged women. No matter their age, Mary noticed that they all seemed very lackluster and depressed- they were the antithesis of Christine, who plopped herself down next to Mary. Some of the people Mary dubbed as "nurses" seemed to frown upon this, but no one said anything.

"Hello again."

"Hi," said Mary. "Is this everyone?"

Christine looked around. "Yeah, I think. The meal will be out shortly." She paused. "What day of the week is it?"

"I haven't the foggiest idea. Whatever is wrong with me, it must be messing with my sense of time, because I've lost all sense of it."

"I think it's Friday," Christine continued. "Friday has decent food, if you're into actually eating and all that junk. Breakfast is..." she thought for a second. "Cheese omelets. You're not lactose intolerant or anything, are you?'

"No."

"Good. Then you should like this. Some days we even get some form of potato, but that's pretty rare."

The food was placed in front of the women at the table. Cheese omelets, just like Christine had said, including hash browns. Mary laughed at the sight of the potatoes on the plate in front of her. The food was, surprisingly, not terrible. Her mother's cooking blew it out of the water, of course, but it was a better omelet than Mary could have made herself.

"Now, girls, everybody eat up. I want to see some clean plates, OK?" one of the assistants said as she walked around to make sure everyone was eating.

Mary ate about three-quarters of her omelet and a few bites of her hash brown before she completely lost her appetite. Mary began to think about the meal that Corey had cooked for her. As awful as that night turned out to be and as much as Mary knew Corey despised her, Mary wished she were back there. That was before she went totally insane. That was also when she was with Wilson. This Christine girl that had befriended Mary seemed nice enough, but she missed the comfort of having someone around who knew her better than she knew herself. That was the one quality that Wilson shared with Carlos- they both understood Mary perfectly.

"Are you done?" the same woman who had showed up at Mary's door that morning asked her. She got extremely close to Mary's face and it made her slightly uncomfortable.

"Yes, I am."

"Good. Your appointment's not until 9:00, but Dr. Perkins doesn't have another appointment before yours, so you can go and see him now if you'd like. I know how anxious you are to get out of here."

"I am," Mary said, "and that would be fine."

"Perfect."

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"OK Mary, I'm going to ask you a few yes or no questions. They might sound like I'm mocking you, but from what's in your file already, I think they are appropriate. Feel free to elaborate on your answers as much as you'd like. And keep in mind that whatever you say in here in strictly confidential. No one at this facility can see any of this information except if they are a psychiatrist themselves."

"Um," Mary had to admit that she was scared. "OK."

"Do you think that you have felt that there are odd or unusual things going on that you can't explain?"

"Yes. " The doctor paused so Mary said more. "I can't list things off the top of my head right now. It's usually when they happen that I feel like this."

"That's OK." He looked down at the paper he had sitting on his lap.

"Do you think that you are able to predict the future?"

"Are you serious?'

"Yes."

"No, I don't think I can predict the future, although my future is probably not going to be end up being too well-off."

"Have you felt that there could possibly be something interrupting or controlling your thoughts, feelings, or actions?"

"Kind of, yes. Does it have to be a thing?"

"Not necessarily."

Mary rubbed her forehead. "Then yes, I think."

"Do you have trouble knowing where you are or telling time?"

Mary perked up; this guy was good. "Time. I've lost all sense of time and I hate it."

"Do you use any drugs, or have you ever in the past?"

"No."

"Alcohol?"

"I don't drink much. But I did. On Halloween."

"Is that significant?"

"I wanted to go and drink to escape everything. I thought if I could forget I'd feel better."

"All right. Have you had the experience of doing something differently because of the feelings or thoughts you said you experience?"

"Yeah. That's why I ended up here."

The doctor perked up. "Could you elaborate?"

"I've been seeing my husband. He's not there, I know he's not, he's in New York, but he appears and he tells me to do things. Recently he told me that if he were me he'd kill himself, and that that was what I should do. I got so wrapped up in that that I tried to jump off of my parents' balcony."

"I see." He took some notes. "Just a few more questions then. Would you say that you get confused at times whether something you experience or perceive may be real or may be just part of your imagination or dreams?"

"Sort of. I know that what I'm seeing isn't really there, but it's like that doesn't matter. It seems just as real to me as if it were actually happening."

"Have you seen anything else besides your husband?"

"I was sitting in my backyard and a bird talked to me. He told me to apologize to my friend so I did, if that's important."

"It is." Dr. Perkins paused. "Have you had any bouts of uncontrollable rage or anger?"

"No, not at all."

"Have you been feeling more down and out than usual?"

"Yes, sort of."

He crossed his legs. "So what do you think about all of this? Do you think you're going crazy?"

"Kind of, yes." Mary sighed. "I don't know anymore. I'm just so confused and I'm sick of feeling this way."

"OK." He wrote a few more things down and then got up to sit behind his desk. He reached for a paper atop his desk and began to fill it out. He finished writing and then came back to the chair he had used for his questioning. "Mary, this might come as a shock to you, but I think have a diagnosis for you. Now, this isn't permanent, and as time progresses and we learn more about you, we might change this. However, as of right now, I think you might be schizophrenic."

Mary's mouth dropped. "You've got to be kidding me."

"No. You're hallucinating, listening to your hallucinations, you feel weird overall, and you are having trouble getting a sense of time, correct?"

Mary sighed heavily; he was right. "Yes, I guess so."

"I am afraid you are schizophrenic."

"But isn't that when you have multiple personalities? I don't have that. I'm only one person. I just see people who aren't there. One person, really."

"No. That's a common misconception," Dr. Perkins explained. "I'm sorry to have to break this news to you."

Mary sat like a blob in the chair. This was huge; a big thing to have to deal with. "Now my husband is never going to take me back. I'm damaged goods. Who wants a wife with a severe and persistent mental disorder?"

"I'm going to put you on some medication. An antidepressant for your moods and a neuroleptic to get rid of your hallucinations. No more husbands and talking birds. Sound good?"

"I guess." She sighed. "I thought I tried to kill myself because Carlos was dominating me emotionally to the point where I had to shut it all off or be eaten alive- and I chose neither."

"Well," said the doctor as he filled out Mary's prescriptions, "that might be true, but you also have schizophrenia."

"Wow," Mary finally said. "OK. Fine."

"The nurses will get you all set with medication and there is a therapist on hand if you need help dealing with your diagnosis."

"Thank you, Doctor, I guess. You may have just ruined my life."

"Or saved it," he commented. "The quicker schizophrenia is diagnosed the better chance you have with treatment, just like with any serious illness."

"I have a serious mental illness." Mary sighed.

"You don't think your family allowed you to admit yourself into a mental institution if you were just having some problems opening up, do you?"

"Well, no."

"Then you should be happy we figured this out. Some people go their whole lives without being properly diagnosed. Be thankful that, if you were going to be sick, you had textbook-like symptoms."

Mary stood. "For some reason, that doesn't help."

"I didn't think I would." Mary stood and approached the door. "See you later, Ms. Camden."

"I'm sure you will, now that I have schizophrenia."

"Tomorrow afternoon good for you? Do you have any plans?"

It was almost as if he were mocking Mary's current situation. "Very funny."

"See you then."

And with that she left his office.

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A/N: What is there to say about this chapter. The first part is pretty much just a billion inside jokes couched in college and my weird friendship-fantasy. Christine is mine, and I like her, so don't take her. I don't think I failed to mention that before. Everyone else new is generic, so you can have them if you wish. The second part is awful. If stories didn't have to make sense, I would have omitted everything after the break, written "schizophrenia" and then continued. Darn logic. Anyway, the questions came from some site with a "Do you have schizophrenia?" test with results you should discuss with your doctor. I think they were buried in some PDF if I remember correctly. But that part is horrible. Reminds me of my first story I wrote, as in "I don't know how to write this, so I'm just going to throw it all in here in a lump."

But I feel I must mention that schizophrenia was suggested to me on the NaNo boards. I posted looking for a mental illness and they delivered. It seemed to fit the symptoms I was going o go with, although I must admit that the hallucinations were added to fit. They turned out pretty decent, though.

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	20. Chapter 20

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Mary left the office and went straight back to her room. There were about three or so attendants that tried to stop Mary from running off and encourage her to stay out with the other patients, but she couldn't bear the thought of it. She didn't want to see anyone right now except for herself. She didn't have a mirror in her room, but if she did, it was time to take a good hard look in it.

Mary felt like a schizophrenic freak. She thought for sure that no one would want her back once she was released into the real world. Carlos wouldn't want her, and there would be no way Mary could even attempt to get custody of Charlie back if she was this mentally ill. No court would even give Charlie to her if Carlos died in some horrible accident. Maybe, only maybe if all of Carlos's family was taken with him in said accident and there was no one around that would be able to take care of Charlie, ever. Still Charlie would probably go to her parents.

Mary shook her head. This was a ridiculous thought to be thinking at a time such as this. She needed to decide how she felt about this. Horrible was one way to describe it. She truly felt like she was an outcast of society the second she was labeled as crazy, and by a doctor no less. Her family would never understand her; no one would get it. She needed to get out of this place. Maybe then she could get far enough away where she could start over, start a new life, and forget about this schizophrenia business.

Mary spotted the small window at the back of her room. She thought that she cold probably fit through the bottom glass pane if she could just get through it. She walked over to the window and put her hands on the cold glass. She unlatched the window and started to push. As soon as she did, a loud alarm went off. The door to her bedroom flung open and two burly men came in, carrying her off and away from the window. They dragged her out of her bedroom and into a small and secluded room.

Mary struggled to break free, but she couldn't. She kicked and screamed until she felt a sharp prick in her thigh. Quickly, everything went fuzzy and she felt very tired. Mary had to be sedated because of her diagnosis.

-

Mary awoke a few hours later in a hospital bed, away from all civilization and her legs strapped down. Mary guessed that they decided she was more of a flight risk than a fight risk, as the old saying goes. As soon as she tried to move, a nurse rushed to her side.

"Shh. It's all right. You were just sleeping."

"Sleeping? Bull. You put me to sleep and then you tied me down."

"You tried to jump out of your window. Do you remember that?"

Mary took the tone of the young woman's voice to denote that she was mocking Mary and her condition. "Yes, I do. And 'so what' is what I say. Let me jump. I'm terminally ill, you know."

The girl peeked at Mary's chart. "Schizophrenia is not terminal. It can be treated. Almost effectively, too."

"Almost effectively," Mary snarled. "Great."

"Well, you just stay here until you get that attitude of yours up. Once you do, I can release you back to your room. If you calm down soon you'll make it in time for your group session."

"Oh goody!" Mary feigned excitement. Actually, Mary thought, that didn't sound too bad. She was curious as to what everyone else had. Maybe there would be another woman with schizophrenia. Maybe that woman really had it and Mary didn't. Maybe the doctor had made a mistake. Or maybe everyone here was misdiagnosed, and Mary was sent here to unmask their evil plan. She had to think of something. This diagnosis and disease were debilitating.

Mary turned her head to the woman attending her. "You know what, I think I'll skip group session. None of those people I had breakfast with seemed all that interesting."

"That's your choice Ms. Camden."

Mary closed her eyes tightly. She felt like dying. She wanted to die, anyway, hence the to attempted jumpings she went through earlier in the past two days. Mary didn't know what she should or should not do. These unfamiliar surroundings that she had to figure out and evaluate certainly could not be good for her condition.

-

An hour later, yet another different woman came over to Mary's bedside, the side of the bed that she was still strapped in to. The woman instructed Mary to sit up and, after a bit of begrudging, Mary did as requested of her.

"I'm going to give you your medications. These are pills. Can you swallow pills?"

"Yes, I'm not five. But who says I want to take my medication anyway? I don't need them."

"Just try them. See if they make you feel any better. If they don't, we'll go from there."

"Fine," Mary spat.

The woman handed Mary's two pills out to her with a cup of water. Mary swallowed both, separately of course, and then the woman smiled. "See, now that wasn't so hard."

"What if I refuse to swallow?"

"Oh." The woman giggled. "We have our way of getting our patients their mediation. Medication is very important, don't you know."

Mary laid back on her bed. She decided she was going to wait and see what this medication did to her before she passed any judgments on it or the doctor who prescribed it to her. She wanted it to work, to make it all better, but she doubted that was possible. Plus, she did didn't want to be stuck on medications her entire life, either. She didn't want her life to be reduced to that of a pill-popping junkie. Mary was better than that.

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A/N: I forgot I had Mary sedated and strapped until I read it again. Why, I have no idea. Ever see One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest? I swear I lifted it from that. Anyhoo, short chapter. Next one I believe gives us some medication reaction or something. To be honest I am unsure.

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	21. Chapter 21

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Mary skipped her group session that day, declined any visits with the therapist about her diagnosis, and was even able to get herself out of eating lunch. The only time she left her room for the rest of the night was dinner, where Christine sat next to her again.

"So, you saw Perkins?" Christine asked Mary.

"Unfortunately, yes."

"He's good. Kind of crass at times, but good."

"Well, that's good to know." Mary turned her attention to her plate of peas and chicken.

"So...?"

"So what?"

"So what do you have? You stayed in your room all day, I'm guessing he diagnosed you."

"Schizophrenia," Mary whispered. She didn't want the rest of the women to hear her, not that any of them were listening to Mary anyway.

"Eesh. That's bad."

"Yeah, that's what I thought! He didn't seem to believe me, though. Neither did any of these nurses."

"They're not going to tell you it's bad," Christine explained. "You're already institutionalized. It doesn't get any worse than this."

Mary smiled at Christine in a motherly manner. "I know I haven't been here for that long, but it's not _that_ bad. I've been through way worse stuff in my life than this, believe me."

"Like what?"

Now she had crossed a line. "Just things."

"Fine, don't tell me." Christine sighed. "I've been through stuff, too."

"I'm sure you have. Everyone has."

"And don't think that just because my problem is more 'mainstream' that it's any less than yours."

"I don't." Mary was confused. "I'm sorry."

Christine lowered her head. "No, I'm sorry. It's these damned antidepressants. They can never got the dosage right, so every now and then I start acting wonky."

"Wonky?"

"Yes, wonky." She giggled.

Mary laughed, too. "You make me feel old."

"You're only four years older than I am. Don't you have any younger brothers or sisters?"

"Yes. Five."

"Five?!" Christine could not believe her ears.

"There are seven of us total, nine if you count my parents, ten if you count Happy, our dog."

"My lord. I was an only child. I don't know how I would cope with that."

"It's all what you're used to, I guess," Mary said.

-

Mary sat in her bedroom that night and waited for Carlos to appear before her. She did her best to conjure him up, thinking about him, trying to talk to him, but all of her efforts were for naught. Carlos did not show up. To be perfectly honest, Mary missed him- even if he did tell her that she should kill herself because she was worthless. The last thing that Mary wanted in her life was to never see her husband again. She loved him and respected him much more than she had before she left him. He completed her, and the only way Mary was able to find that out was by leaving. She was incomplete without him. Carlos made her whole. She had to figure out a way to get him back.

Maybe, she began to think, maybe getting better was her ticket back to him. If she could get her mental state under control, maybe he could see the strength that she had and would allow her to be in his and Charlie's lives again. That was what Mary decided she was going to hold on to while she was there. The hope of getting better so that she could go back to Carlos. It was the only thing Mary could think of.

-

The next morning after breakfast, Mary was required to go and talk with a therapist. Apparently, they were the ones who dealt with the patients of Sunny Valley Mental Hospital emotionally, while the psychiatrists dealt with the patients physical symptoms.

"Hi, Mary. I'm Dr. Ward."

"You're a real doctor?"

"I'm not a medical doctor, but I do have my doctorate in psychology."

"All right."

"I asked you hear to talk about what you're feeling. This all must be very scary for you."

"Not scary," Mary corrected, "just upsetting."

"I see. So, tell me a little bit about your life."

"Like what?"

"Well, what's your family like?"

"My family as in _my_ family, or my family as in my parents and siblings?"

"Let's hear about those parents and siblings."

Another perky one. Mary rolled her eyes. "My father, Eric, is a minister. My mother, Annie, a stay-at-home mom, although she did try her hand at teaching a couple of years ago. I have six brothers and sisters. There's Matt who's 25, me, Lucy who's 22, Simon who's 18, Ruthie who's thirteen, and Sam and David who are five."

"Wow. That's a lot of people."

"Tell me about it."

"Was it hard to get individual attention from your parents?"

Mary shrugged her shoulders. "If you were getting into trouble, no. If you were just acting like a normal kid then yes. The squeaky wheel gets the oil."

"I see. Do you resent them for that?"

"No, not for that."

"Then you do resent them for something?"

"I resent them for a lot of things. Mainly for them not understanding me. They wrote me off as a juvenile delinquent and now whatever I do, it's just because I'm Mary and I'm crazy. But, you know, I guess they saw something that I didn't, because I really am crazy now."

"Did you get into trouble as a kid?"

"When I was seventeen, my basketball coach locked out our team because our grades slipped- most of us were seniors and had 'senioritis' I guess. A couple of my friends and I decided that it would be a good idea to break into the school gym at night and trash it to get back at him. We must have set off an alarm or something because the cops showed up and I was arrested."

"What happened?"

"I got put into a corrections diversion program. I did community service instead of serving time and then the arrest was erased from my record. Well, it was supposed to be, but every time I do anything someone finds out about it so I guess it wasn't. Anyway, that's irrelevant I guess."

"Does that night still haunt you then?"

"No, not really, except that no one will let me live it down. Even my own husband won't let it go, for entirely different reasons."

"I didn't know you were married." Mary didn't respond. "Tell me about your husband."

"His name is Carlos."

"And?"

"And what?"

"Well, does he know you're here?"

"I doubt it. I haven't seen him in months. Someone will tell him eventually, I'm sure of it."

"Have you spoken to him?"

"Not since I left, no."

"Are you both officially separated now?"

"No."

"Then what's going on? Why did you leave him? Did he kick you out?"

Mary was getting frustrated. This woman kept jumping to the wrong conclusions. "No, I left him. I freaked out on him because I couldn't take being a wife and a mother anymore, it was suffocating me, so I left and came back to my parents. I didn't know what else to do. Now that I've gone crazy, I'm sure I left him because of that. I think that was the beginning of all of this."

"You have a child?"

"Yes, but he's not mine anymore. I gave up total custody to Carlos."

"And why did you do that?"

"Because I wanted to distance myself from that life as much as possible. That was the only way I knew how." Mary paused. "Charlie would always tie me to it. I figured if I gave him up I could make more of a clean break."

"And did you?"

"Yeah." Mary nodded. "As much as it's killing me, once I get over that I don't have to go back."

"Yeah, I guess that makes sense to me."

"Well, it doesn't to me. I still don't know what made me do that."

"When did you have your son?"

"Seven months ago."

"Were you tested for post-partum depression?"

"I don't have post-partum depression. I love him and I'd kill for another chance to hold him in my arms. I miss him more than anything."

"But-"

"Trust me. I do not have post-partum depression. I wish I had post-partum depression compared to schizophrenia."

"Well, all right."

Mary felt like screaming. "Anything else you want to know?"

"Anything else you care to tell me?"

"Not particularly, no."

"All right, fine. You're free to go."

"Thank you," Mary stood.

"But you know," Dr. Ward continued, "if you continue to shut yourself off from the help being provided to you nothing in your life will change. You have to want it to change and then do something about it."

Mary sighed heavily, rolled her eyes, and exited the room.

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A/N: I think what I was trying to do with this chapter was just to explain Mary a bit. See exactly from her point of view what was going on, not through what someone else thinks is happening, you know? That was pretty much it.

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	22. Chapter 22

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A knock came at Mary's door. She was too depressed to get up and answer it, so she forced the person on the other side to come inside themselves. Luckily for Mary, it was only Christine.

"Hi." Mary didn't even move. "Depressed?" Christine sat down on Mary's bed next to her.

"Yes." Mary sighed. "I just want to go home. I miss my husband, I miss my son, I miss my friend, heck, I even miss my family a little."

"You've only been here for a day."

"So?"

"You've still got thirteen more days."

"Yeah, unlucky thirteen."

"Oh, buck up."

"These antidepressants aren't working. I'm more depressed than ever."

"Then say something. Get up, get out there, tell them this medication's not working."

Mary rolled over. "No."

"Yes."

"No," she groaned. "I just want to sleep for thirteen days."

Christine thought for a second and then shot up off the bed. "I'll be back."

"Whatever."

She was true to her word and, a few minutes later, Christine came back. "Here," she said, poking Mary with something.

"What now?"

"Paper and pen. Why don't you write a letter to this husband of yours that you miss so much?"

Mary sat up. "I can't mail him anything. He'll rip it up."

"Then just write to him. He doesn't ever have to see it." Christine could tell that Mary was thinking it over. "I'll leave you alone with your thoughts. Good luck!"

"Thanks Christine."

-

Dear Carlos,

I don't know why I am writing this other than because a nineteen year old suggested it. Weird, I know, but everything seems weird now. She thought it would help and I think she's right, believe it or not.

I really miss you. I don't know if you know or not that I'm here, so I'll tell you what happened. I'm in a mental institution because I tried to kill myself. I was seeing things, hallucinations of you actually. You're the one who told me to kill myself, so I attempted to jump off of my parents' porch. They freaked out, called the cops, and to make a long story short, I ended up here. Voluntarily, of course, but I think I might be stuck here for two weeks.

I want to see you. I think I'm ready now. It took something like this to make me feel like I could come back to you. I doubt you would want me back, but I'm ready to work on things.

I do love you. I love you so much. That thing with Cecily, I was just picking a fight. I don't know why. I still don't. I'm hoping that in these two weeks I can figure that out, in addition to getting the help everyone swears I need.

I've been diagnosed by a psychiatrist as schizophrenic, and it scares me to death. I don't want to be stuck with some disease for the rest of my life, and I'm afraid that if I am you won't take me back. I need you.

I feel like crying right now. I'm so alone. I wish I felt like I could talk to you more. If I could, maybe I could have said something before everything came to this. But, at any rate, I'm stuck here now.

All right. I guess that's all I have to say right now. It wasn't much, I know, but it was something. I wasn't sure if I was actually going to mail this to you, but now maybe I will. It can't hurt to get the lines of communication open again.

I'm sorry and I love you.

Mary

-

"I think I'm sending it to him," said Mary to Christine.

"Really?"

"Yeah. There's no point in waiting around for someone else to talk to him. Besides, no one knows anything except for Wilson."

Christine furrowed her brow. "Who's Wilson? Your brother?"

Mary covered her face with her hands. "Oh no!"

"What?"

"Sarah."

"Who's Sarah?"

"Matt's wife!"

"Who's Matt? What? You're not making any sense to me."

Mary slowed down. "Matt's my brother. Sarah's his wife. They live in New York, where Carlos lives. She knew that I left and why I left, kind of. Once my parents tell Matt I'm here Carlos will know." Mary grew frantic. "I need to send this right now."

"Mary, calm down," said Christine. "You're acting like a crazy woman."

"Hello, I am a crazy woman," Mary huffed. "I need to mail this to Carlos."

"OK, then mail it." Christine thought for a second. "So who was Wilson?"

"My old high school boyfriend, turned adult boyfriend, turned fiancé, turned disaster. I ran into him, we talked, he knows things."

Christine raised her eyebrows. "Is he married?"

"Yes, to this girl I knew in high school."

"What? Your life is so weird!"

"Yeah, I know."

"So why didn't you marry him?"

"I cheated on him. With my brother-in-law actually."

"Carlos's brother?!" Christine could not believe her ears.

"No, my sister's husband's brother, before he was my sister's husband. Before he was my sister's anything, actually. ...That's a complicated story."

"I'd like to hear it sometime."

"Sure, sure." Mary's frantic nature returned.

"Do you love this Wilson guy?"

"He's a great man, a perfect guy. And I do love him, I'm just not in love with him. And besides, even if I was- which I'm not- he's got Corey, his wife."

"You should write a book. 'Mary: The Autobiography of a Crazy Woman.'"

Mary laughed out loud. "Thanks. Maybe I will."

"I smell a best seller!"

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A/N: Short short short chapter. Stupid chapter. Next chapter is better, I swear to you. From after this until the end I am slightly proud of, plot-wise anyway. And hopefully I'll get this story uploaded before November rolls around again. I am such a lazy bum!

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	23. Chapter 23

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Carlos picked up his cell phone and frantically searched for the number to the Camden's house out in GlenOak in Mary's address book.

"Hello?" answered the Reverend Eric Camden.

"Mary is in a mental institution?"

"Oh..." Eric gulped. "Hello Carlos."

"Don't 'hello' me. When did this happen? Why didn't anyone tell me?"

"Um, it happened early Friday morning and we didn't know what kind of terms you and Mary were on."

"Regardless of what terms we were on, don't you think I had a right to know my wife is clinically insane?"

"Yes, but I also think that she should have told you."

"And she did."

Eric perked up. "You heard from Mary?"

"She wrote me a letter telling me she'd gone and gotten herself committed."

"She's all right then?"

Carlos shrugged even though he knew Eric couldn't see him over the phone. "I don't know. I guess." He sighed. "Is there any way I can get in touch with her myself? Does she have a phone?"

"Not that I know of. Was there a return address on the letter?"

Carlos groaned. "I wanted to do something more along the lines of speaking to her, but no, there was no return address."

"I see. Well, let me call the hospital and see what I can do for you Carlos."

"Wait, I'd-" Click. Carlos groaned. He would have liked to called the hospital and checked on Mary firsthand instead of getting the runaround from the reverend.

About twenty minutes later Carlos's phone rang.

"Hello?"

"Carlos, hi," said Eric. "I talked to someone over there and they said that Mary cannot receive mail or phone calls, but she's fine."

"So I can't talk to her at all? She's just stuck in there?"

"You can go see her."

"She's all the way out in California. I can't just-"

"Saturday. Saturday there are visiting hours. You should go and see her then."

Carlos was quiet for a few moments. "I could get my mother to watch the baby for the weekend. She'll be mad, but she'll get over it."

"All right, then. It's settled."

"I guess so. Should I go right there, or-"

"No, no. The family was planning on going to see her. You can go up with us. Fly into GlenOak."

"Up there?" Carlos didn't understand. "How far is this place from your house?"

"Two hours or so north. But it was recommended by the physician in the emergency room, and we didn't know what else to do."

"Do you plan on moving her closer to the house if she needs to stay for long term care?"

"That's up to Mary."

"All right." Carlos had nothing left to say. "I'll see you on Saturday then, Reverend."

"Why not fly in Friday night? We were planning on going up there bright and early on Saturday."

"Fine, fine. Good bye Reverend Camden." Carlos hung up. He was beyond furious.

Before Eric even had time to exit his office, the phone rang again. Eric answered it quickly.

"Yes?"

"Reverend Camden, hello."

"Oh, hello Wilson. Funny, I was just talking about Mary."

"Were you?" Wilson said. "How is she doing?"

"I honestly don't know. That's why the family and I are going up to visit her on Saturday."

"Is that allowed? I know some of those places have strict rules."

"I just talked to the hospital. They were the ones who suggested it to me."

"Oh, OK."

"You know," Reverend Camden said, "you should come with us on Saturday. I'm sure Mary would love to see you."

"Um." Wilson thought for a second. The idea of riding for two hours in a car filled with Camdens made him feel sick. Over the years their feelings for Wilson had grown toward hate, and the feeling had started to become mutual. "How about I meet you up there?"

"Even better," said Eric. "See you Saturday, Wilson."

"Bye Reverend Camden."

After Wilson hung up, Eric sat there for a minute. Why did he just do that? Why did he decide that he must ruin Mary's life even more than it already was by inviting her husband up to see her without giving her any notice and asking her ex-boyfriend who she'd been seeing recently to come up on the same day? It was completely illogical and totally unfair. But, then again, Eric was eager to see how things would turn out. Maybe Mary would surprise him and things wouldn't blow up in her face like usual.

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A/N: Again, I think I have sai this before, but I am still searching for a reason as to why the Camdens decided they hate Mary so completely this time around. It doesn't quite make sense. But then again, no much of this makes sense, so it's fitting I assume.

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	24. Chapter 24

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A knock came at Mary's bedroom door. Assuming it was Christine, Mary popped up and answered the door, only to find a nurse standing before her, the one who had been attending her for the past few days. It was now Thursday afternoon.

"Ms. Camden, Dr. Perkins would like to see you in his office."

"Why?" Mary appeared skeptical.

"He didn't say. Now come along please."

Mary grumbled. "Fine." She walked down the hallways until she got to his office. She knocked quietly and then entered, taking it upon herself to sit in a chair across from his desk.

"Ms. Camden, hello."

"Hi."

"I wanted to ask you about your medication. How do you think they're doing? Are they working?"

"Well, my hallucinations are gone, unfortunately, but I don't know how much the anti-depressant is doing. It's hard to tell."

"Did you say your hallucinations were gone, 'unfortunately'?"

Mary sighed. "Yes."

"I don't understand. You want your hallucinations back?"

"Kind of. I was seeing my husband, and I really miss him, so I almost wish they were back."

"But wasn't he the one who told you to kill yourself?"

"Yes, but I think I'm on better terms with him now."

The doctor looked at Mary like she was strange. "All right. Well, let me change up that anti-depressant, see if that will help you."

"As long as it doesn't kill me, fine."

"So you no longer wish to kill yourself? Good."

"I never wanted to kill myself. Carlos wanted me to kill myself and I went along with it. I never actually wanted to be dead."

"Oh, well, all right." Dr. Perkins stopped paying attention to Mary to write down her prescription. "Tonight at dinner your medication will be different."

"OK. Thank you."

"No problem. See you later Mary."

-

Mary sat in the lounge playing cards with Christine. It always made Mary laugh that there was a lounge in a mental hospital. It was much more like a college dormitory than anyone ever would have guessed. The only thing different that Mary knew of was that she had a single. As far as she knew, suite-style living was all the rage now.

"So, what did Perkins want with you before?"

"Nothing much. He asked about my medication and he's changing my anti-depressant."

"Oh, well, OK."

"Are you on any medication?" Christine had asked Mary so many personal questions over the past few days tat Mary thought nothing of asking Christine this.

"Just an anti-depressant, but they're trying to wean me off of it. They claim I am no longer depressed and I don't need it."

"Well, good for you."

"Yeah, I guess. I got most of my spunk back. When they first put me on it, I drained me of all semblance of a personality I ever had. Since then it's been changed like thirty times."

"Is that common?"

"Not that I know of. I'm just weird I guess."

"You're not weird. I think you're the most normal one here."

"That's good to know. Got any twos?"

"What?"

"We're playing Go Fish. Do you have any twos?"

"Oh, sorry. I forgot we were playing." Mary stopped there.

"So no twos then?"

Mary laughed. "Sorry. My head is somewhere else. No, go fish."

Christine drew a card from the red-backed deck in between the two girls. "Ah, I fished my wish."

Mary smiled. "My father always used to say that. Go Fish used to be huge in my house."

"My mom was the one who taught that to me." She paused. "I really should stop saying it. I don't want anything that reminds me of my mother. I hate her."

"You shouldn't hate anyone."

"She gave me an eating disorder and then stuck me here. Who knows when I can leave?"

"Can't you just sign yourself out?"

Christine sighed. "I could, but I wouldn't."

"Why not?"

"Because. I don't know if I could survive out in the real world. Too much pressure. I'd probably stop eating again."

"What about going back to school? Do you want to go back to school?"

"College was pointless. I went the whole year and barely learned anything."

"What were you majoring in?"

"Communications, but I only got to take general education classes freshman year, and then I left. I've got about fifteen credits and a bunch of incompletes under my belt."

"I've got about...twenty or thirty credits. About eight of those are nontransferable because they were under a continuing education program."

"Are you ever going to finish?"

"I don't plan on it," said Mary. "I don't see the point. I can get by fine enough without it."

"That's what I think."

"But you're young. Maybe you should go back."

"There's no way I'm getting out of here before I'm twenty. It'll probably be closer to twenty-one. At that point, why should I bother?"

Mary's motherly instincts were kicking in. She hated to see Christine throw her life away. "I guess," was all she could say.

"You don't agree with me, I can tell."

"I didn't say that."

"You didn't have to." Christine sighed. "It's OK. I'm used to it."

"Got any fives?"

"Nope, go fish."

-

Mary took her new medication at dinner. After that, she went right back to her room. She laid on her bed and fell right to sleep. She slept until around 3:00 AM, rolled over, looked at the clock someone had given her, and then went back to sleep until 8:00. She refused to get up for breakfast, so a nurse brought Mary her breakfast in her room, which she ate as quickly as possible, and then went back to sleep.

Besides feeling very apathetic toward everything, Mary was extremely tired. For the few moments that she was awake, she wondered if they had slipped her something in her medication that was not medicine. Christine came in and saw the way Mary was acting and went to get one of the nurses.

The way Mary was acting was cause for some alarm. They knew that Mary's medications had been switched, so they called up Dr. Perkins. He had had an emergency at a medical hospital that he was on call for, so he was unable to get back to Sunny Valley to assist with Mary. They suggested that the nurses not administer Mary's anti-depressant that night and they didn't. As the night wore on on Friday, the medication began to wear off. Mary was back to feeling more like herself.

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A/N: Again I interjected something about school. A lot about school, actually. And in no way is Christine's opinion about school her own; that was all mine, but that's another issue I guess. This stupid room I'm stuck in as been the source for much inspiration, though, so I guess I should stop bellyaching.

Next chapter is the good one. I know I always say that, but I really think that I'm right this time.

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Anti-depressants anyone? Review for your very own prescription.

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	25. Chapter 25

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Friday night at 8:30 Pacific time, Carlos Rivera's plane landed from New York city in GlenOak, California. The Camdens had not offered to pick him up at the airport, although they were the ones that insisted on Carlos flying in to begin with, so he took a cab to their home. He was scared beyond belief to find out how the Camdens would receive him, but he was up for the challenge. He really needed to see Mary and find out how she was doing.

He carried his bag to the door after paying the cabbie and approached slowly. He took a moment on the porch to collect himself and, as he did, he turned his head upward. Above him was the porch that extended from the bedroom of Eric and Annie. That was where Mary wanted to jump off of and kill herself, as per her letter. If she jumped from there, he thought, it probably wouldn't have killed her. Why didn't she think to jump off of the roof? Mary couldn't even do her own death right.

He rang the doorbell and waited for someone to come and answer the door. After thirty seconds, Ruthie answered.

"Oh, it's you. Hi Carlos."

"Were you expecting someone else?"

"Kind of."

"Who?" Carlos said as he walked inside.

"Peter."

"Oh, that boy of yours." Carlos smiled down at the young teen. "I see."

Annie walked in from the kitchen. "Hi Carlos. How was your flight?"

Carlos hugged his mother-in-law hello. "It was fine."

Annie looked down at her watch. "It's late for you, isn't it?"

"Almost midnight."

"Sheesh. Those time differences will get you every time."

"Tell me about it."

She led him toward the kitchen. "Did you have dinner?"

"No, I didn't. I dropped Charlie off with my mother around 3:00 and then went to the airport. My flight left at 6:00."

"Well, then let me make you a sandwich," said Annie.

"Thank you, Annie."

Carlos walked with Annie into the kitchen, placing his bag on the ground near the kitchen table. He stood next to Annie as she made him a ham sandwich on white bread with mustard. Just when she finished, Carlos's cell phone rang in his pocket.

"I'm so sorry," Carlos said as he reached into his pocket and pulled it out. He looked at the Caller ID. It was Matt. "Excuse me for a moment, please," he said and stepped out on the back porch, closing the door behind him. "Hello?" he said as he walked toward the middle of the backyard, near the basketball hoop.

"Hey Carlos," said Matt. "You still up? I'm going to go by your apartment in a minute. I went to go get some pizza since Sarah and I just got off work, and-"

"I'm not home."

Matt found this to be odd. Was he with another woman? "Oh, OK. Where are you?" Carlos didn't answer. "You still there?"

"I'm in GlenOak."

Matt waited a moment to try and process the information, but he couldn't. "Why are you in GlenOak?"

"To see your sister."

"But Mary's not in GlenOak."

"So you knew?"

"Knew what?"

"That she was in a mental institution."

"Oh. Yes, I did."

"Why didn't you tell me? Didn't you think I'd want to know?"

"I thought my parents told you."

"No, you didn't. You all purposely didn't tell me."

Matt sighed. "How did you find out?"

"Mary wrote me a letter."

"Is she all right?"

"I don't know. I'll find out tomorrow."

Matt shook his head. "I'm sorry. I wanted to tell you but everyone agreed that we shouldn't."

"And why was that?"

"Because, as far as we knew, you and Mary weren't speaking to each other. We didn't want to say something that she didn't want to tell you."

"Fine, fine. But now I'm stuck in GlenOak at your parents house. They hate me, I hope you know."

"I'll talk to them for you."

"Don't bother, I'm already here. Good bye Matt." Carlos hung up the phone and went back inside. Annie was still standing there. "Sorry," he said to her. "That was Matt, actually."

"Oh, really?" Annie lit up. "How is he doing?"

"Fine. He and Sarah had just gotten off work and he wanted to see if he could stop by the apartment."

"So you two are good friends then?"

"I guess so. He's my only real friend in New York."

"That's good that you two talk. Matt could use some friends. He works so hard, and so many hours. I don't think he sees many people outside of the hospital."

"No, he doesn't. He really only saw me and Mary, when Mary still lived with me."

Annie continued to pry. "Have you seen Matt much since Mary left?"

"Not as much, no. Matt was angry with me for about a month, but I think he got over that."

Annie didn't know what else to say. She didn't want to tell Carlos that she agreed with Matt being mad at him right to Carlos's face, so she said nothing of the sort. "Well, here's your sandwich. I think I'm going to go upstairs so that you can eat and peace and then go to sleep. You can sleep in Simon's room. It's the one directly across from the bathroom."

"All right. Thank you."

Annie smiled politely and walked up the kitchen stairs to the second floor of the house. Carlos took a bite of his sandwich and waited for a couple of minutes to pass before he picked up his cell phone and called Sarah. He didn't want anyone overhearing his conversation.

"Hello?"

"Sarah?"

"Carlos, hi."

"I'm in GlenOak."

"You are? Why?"

"To see Mary in the mental hospital."

"Oh gosh."

"Yeah."

"She wrote me a letter, and then I called the Camdens, and now I'm here."

"Good luck with her." Sarah sighed. "Don't be too mean. Don't yell at her. I bet she's been through a lot."

Carlos sighed. "I don't know what to do anymore. She didn't even mention Charlie in the letter. I can't just let that go."

"You don't know how stable she is right now. Don't hold her accountable for that."

"I don't know, Sarah."

Sarah tried to think quickly on her feet, even though she was sitting down. "Do you still love her?"

"Yes, I love Mary. Of course. I will always love Mary."

"Then you'll figure out something to do." It was the best Sarah could come up with.

"All right. Thanks Sarah."

"Any time, Carlos. Good night."

"Good night."

-

Wilson rolled over in bed Friday night and put his hand on Corey's waist.

"Yes?" she knew he wanted something.

He didn't speak.

"Wilson, what did you do now? Hopefully nothing, because you know I'm still mad at you about last weekend."

"Well hopefully you can lump this together with that, since they are pretty much the same thing, and then you can get over it sooner."

Corey picked up his hand and moved it away from her. "What? What are you doing with Mary now? That woman is no good!"

Wilson sighed. "I'm going up tomorrow to see her."

"In the hospital?" Corey sat straight up in bed. "Why? Why won't you just do what I want, ever?"

"It's just one Saturday. Then once I see that she's OK-"

"What if she's not OK? Then you'll be just as involved as you were before."

"But-"

"No. Wilson, I don't know how much more I can take of this from you. You're driving me off a cliff, and you can't return from a cliff. You go over and that's it."

"You know, I'd be more apt to listen to you if you made any sense."

"Excuse me?" Corey could hardly believe her ears.

"I'm sorry but you're being unreasonable."

"I'm being unreasonable? I'm being unreasonable? Bah! You're the one who's being unreasonable. You won't listen to me."

"I hear you, Corey, I do," Wilson tried to explain.

"Exactly. You hear me, but you're not listening to me. You need to start listening to what I say to you."

"But-"

"No. We don't communicate."

Wilson laid back in bed against his pillows. "Oh God. Here we go."

"No."

"Stop telling me no. Just because I am your husband doesn't mean I have to completely lose my identity and become subservient to you. I'm going up to see Mary tomorrow to make sure she's OK and then I'll be done."

Corey said nothing. She laid back down quietly, rolled onto her side, pulled the covers around her (and only her), and pretended to be falling asleep.

"Isn't that a rule to never go to bed mad or something?" Wilson asked.

"Oh, bite me."

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A/N: Wilson! I have missed him so. Corey's annoying. I love it. And I love the Carlos and Matt relationship, and the Carlos and Sarah secret thing. I felt that was a very unexplored side of the show. I know with the actors and such, but it would have been interesting to see Matt, Sarah, Mary, and Carlos in the city together.

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Forget Corey. Bite Wilson. Review.

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	26. Chapter 26

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The next morning came all too soon. Carlos rolled over, taking notice of the sun that was streaming through Simon's bedroom window and onto his face. He got up and stared into the mirror that was hung behind the door. The room must have been redecorated from the last time he was in there. Carlos did not remember that mirror.

He looked at his face. He seemed to have aged five years in the last three months. He had no idea how much he relied on Mary until she left, and it was catching up to him. Evidently, his face was the first part to be worse for the wear.

Carlos changed his clothes into the one and only other outfit that he brought to California and opened the door to the room. On the other side, startled that the door flew open, was Eric.

"Oh, Carlos. Good, you're up. Visiting hours start at 10:00 and it's already 8:30 so we wanted to get a move on."

"Oh, um," it was too early for Eric to come on this strong, "OK. Just give me ten minutes."

"Oh, we're not leaving until nine, but I was just coming to get you up."

"All right." Eric smiled. "Help yourself to some breakfast downstairs. What's ours is yours."

"Thank you."

Carlos went down the stairs and into the kitchen, only to find the entire rest of the family milling around. Annie, Lucy, Kevin, Ruthie, Sam, David, and even Happy- all happily eating and enjoying the day that was to come. Carlos wasn't nearly as enthused as they seemed to be, but he tried to go along with it anyway.

"Good morning."

"Good morning," they all said back, just slightly out of unison.

"There's a bagel on the counter here if you'd like it," Annie said, gesticulating to the circular bread item in front of her.

"Um, OK. Thanks."

"And there's glasses in the cupboard above the dishwasher and orange juice on the table next to Sam."

"All right." Carlos grabbed the bagel and a cup and took the only empty seat at the wooden table. "Are you all coming with us, or do you usually get up this early on a Saturday?"

"No, we're all coming, except for Kevin," said Lucy. "He's staying with Sam, David, and Ruthie."

"I can stay by myself you now," said Ruthie.

"With Peter? I don't think so."

"Nothing would happen," she groaned.

"Still," said Kevin.

Carlos observed how Kevin had assimilated perfectly into the family. He was saying things to Ruthie that were usually left up to a father. Carlos wished he had gotten along with the Camdens as well as Kevin did. Maybe, that way, when things didn't go as planned with Mary, he wouldn't have had to get through to her and to get into her head. Sure, he was close with Matt, but Matt only had so much power when he was away from the heard. There is strength in numbers.

-

Wilson groaned when he got out of bed just before nine o'clock. He didn't get out of bed, per se, so much as he was pushed out by his loving wife.

"Get up," he heard he say from the other side of the room, the side she pushed him from. "You're sleeping the day away and I want to make the bed."

"Couldn't you have made it with me in it?"

"Ha ha, very funny." At least she was talking to him, Wilson thought. "So what time are you going to see your girlfriend?"

"Nine, since it takes an hour to get there and visiting hours are from 10:00 until 2:00."

"Well, then you better get going. It's almost 9:00 now. You don't want to disappoint her by being late."

"Oh, great," Wilson said as he jumped up off the floor. He went to the closet, pulled out some clean clothes, and then thrust them on his buff bod.

"By the way..."

"Yes dear? I'm listening."

Corey through his socks at him from the drawer. She was no longer as mad at him as she was before. "Does she know that you're coming?"

"No."

"So this is a surprise then?"

"No. There isn't any way you can get in touch with her. Besides, the Camdens invited me. Reverend Camden to be precise."

"Oh."

Wilson got closer to Corey. "So does that change anything?"

"No," she said, but her conviction to her thoughts about Wilson just going because he still had feelings for Mary was slowing beginning to waiver.

He got even closer and put his hands on her hips. Surprisingly, she didn't push him off. Wilson leaned in and kissed her gently. Corey leaned in for more, and Wilson allowed her one before pulling back. "I'm sorry, but I have to go. Otherwise, the Camdens will beat me there, and who knows what will happen then."

"OK, fine. Go," said Corey. Wilson pecked her cheek. "Drive safely!"

"I will, don't worry."

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A/N: I have no concept of time. At all. Next chapter is the good one? Maybe? I should just look it up. But no, I will be surprised.

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Drive safely _and_ review.

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	27. Chapter 27

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Carlos sat in the back seat of the van next to Lucy. The family talked the whole way up about what some of the parishioners at the church were up to. One had just had his hip replaced and was now going for physical therapy. The other got pregnant at only fifteen. A third just buried her mother out in Colorado. These people were so depressing, not to mention boring. No wonder Mary didn't fit in with them and always had the inherent urge to flee without looking back.

Carlos was starting to wonder if he could take forty more minutes of this excitement, when Lucy spoke up.

"So how's Charlie?"

"Charlie's doing great," Carlos said without skipping a beat. He doubted they knew that Mary had given up custody of Charlie to Carlos. Matt didn't even know, and he was usually one of the first to find out about everything.

"I bet he misses his mom."

"Yeah, he does." Carlos thought at how stupid of a remark that was. Charlie was six months old. Mary had been gone for three months. By this time, Carlos was sure that Charlie had forgotten all about ever having a mother, and probably wouldn't realize he didn't have one for years.

"Did you notice that there was something off with Mary?" asked Annie. "We all noticed it here, but we just didn't know what we should do about it."

"I guess I noticed something." Carlos sighed silently. "Mary's always been kind of moody, so sometimes it can be hard to tell."

"Emotional?" asked Eric. "Mary? Our Mary?"

"Yeah." Carlos was surprised that they didn't know this about their own daughter. "Something was always bothering her and she always had something to say."

"Gee, that sounds more like Lucy than it does Mary," said Eric.

"Yeah," Annie chimed in. "Mary was always so quiet and introverted. We never knew what was going on in that head of hers."

"Well, I guess that's why I'm her husband. I know."

The car was quiet. They all knew, some of them less than others, that something had happened between Mary and Carlos. Maybe they weren't meant to be married. Maybe they wouldn't end up staying together. Maybe Carlos didn't know Mary as well as he thought he did.

"Do you think Mary will ever come back out to New York?" Annie asked after a period of silence.

Carlos recalled Mary's letter. "I think so, yes. Eventually she'll be back. You can't just leave a city like New York that easily. It becomes part of your blood," Carlos answered, turning their question more into one about Mary's physical location that one of her marital status.

"Yes, I hear it's such a nice place," said Lucy. "I'd love to go sometime."

"Well, maybe when Mary comes back she can take you. I know she'd love to have you come out and show you around."

Lucy thought for a second, doubting that would ever happen. "Maybe I can get Kevin to take me one day. We could go see his mother and then go down to the city for a few days."

"That does sound nice," said Eric.

And then the car went silent.

-

Wilson pulled into the parking lot at the Sunny Valley Mental Hospital at around 10:17, due to traffic on the Californian highways. He got out and stood by his car for a second, looking around the lot. He tried to remember what type of car the Camdens had. He knew it was some sort of a vehicle that could carry a mass of people, seeing as though they were such a large family. Ah, that was right. A minivan. Wilson noticed, parked in the row above his and to the left, that there was a dark forest green Dodge Caravan circa 1998 sitting in one of the spots. They had beat him there. He knew he'd left too late.

Wilson walked up to the entrance and the automatic doors parted ways. A man in a dark green security guard's uniform greeted Wilson.

"Can I help you?" his voice boomed. He was a burly man of about forty years of age, and about four inches taller than Wilson was himself.

"Um, I'm here to see a patient."

"Which patient?"

"Mary...uh...well, her maiden name was Camden. Something with an R is her last name now. And Spanish. She married a Puerto Rican guy."

The man looked her name up on the computer behind a desk. "Ah, yes. Mary. All right. You're in luck, she is allowed to have visitors." He scrolled down. "However, she does seem to have someone already with her, so you are going to have to wait, but we do have a waiting room."

"All right."

"Empty out your pockets into this container please, sir."

"Of everything?"

"You can keep your wallet but nothing else. No loose change, either". The security guard watched Wilson go through the detector. He came out clean. "All right. Walk straight down this hall and go to your right and there will be a woman at a desk who can assist you further."

Wilson walked down the hallway like he was told, silently cursing the rigmarole he had to go through just to be able to wait to see Mary. He reached the woman at the desk and she asked him for his driver's license and to sign an agreement saying that he would not disturb the patients. After doing so the woman directed him to a waiting area, one where Wilson could see Annie and Eric already seated in chairs. If she already had someone else in with her, who was it?

"Reverend Camden, Mrs. Camden," Wilson said as he approached them. "Hello. How are you both?"

"Wilson," said Annie. "So nice to see you."

"Nice to see you, too."

"Have you gone in to see her yet?" asked Wilson.

Carlos, who was seated on the other side of Eric, turned and looked at Wilson. Wilson, Carlos thought. That named sounded oddly familiar. "Who is this guy?" he asked Eric.

"Oh, that's Wilson."

Carlos held back from rolling his eyes. "And who is Wilson?"

Wilson noticed a man sitting next to Eric in a waiting room chair. He was older than Wilson was, and a bit scruffy around the cheeks. However, there was something about him that made Wilson think he was important. Thinking that he should be as polite as his mother made him to be, he introduced himself. "Hi, I'm Wilson."

"So I've heard," said Carlos.

Eric chimed in, wanting to twist he situation even further. "Wilson, this is Carlos, Mary's husband from New York."

Oh no. This was bad. Still, Wilson wanted to be the bigger man. He reached out his hand for Carlos to shake. "Wilson," Wilson introduced himself once Carlos begrudgingly shook his hand. "Mary's... ex-boyfriend, I guess."

"What are you doing here?"

"Reverend Camden invited me."

"That's funny," said Carlos, turning to Eric. "He invited me, too. What a coincidence." Eric smiled innocently, and Carlos took everything he had not to literally growl at his father-in-law.

"Yeah, coincidence," reiterated Eric. He was really hating himself right now. He had no idea why he decided to do this.

"Why did you come to see Mary, Wilson?"

Wilson could hear the anger in his voice and could sense the man raising his voice... or maybe it was just the slight Spanish accent that was throwing him off.

"Oh, well," Wilson smiled to try and make himself seem more non-threatening. He didn't want any trouble. "Mary had been talking to me, that's all. Just talking. And I was there last Friday night when she tried to commit suicide, so I just wanted to see how she was doing."

"Were you the one from Buffalo?"

"Excuse me?"

"You and Mary," Carlos said. "Buffalo?"

"Yes, we dated when she was in Buffalo."

"And you were the one when she met Ben, right? Lucy's husband's brother?"

Wilson shuddered. He still remembered walking in on Mary kissing Ben in the living room of her grandparent's house and wanting to curl up into a ball and die- after killing Ben first. "Yes, that would be me."

"Oh, OK." Carlos still didn't like the fact that Mary was talking to another man while she was away from him, especially not a man who she had been engaged to in the past, with someone who Mary had had a deep history with.

Wilson took the seat next to Annie, not next to Carlos. He thought it would be safer that way. "So is someone in with Mary now?" he asked. "When I came in the security guard told me that Mary currently had a visitor."

Annie nodded. "Lucy's in there with her, but that almost didn't happen."

Wilson was confused. "Why not?"

"Because Mary has to OK any visitors she has. At first she didn't want to see Lucy. It took a bit of convincing to have Mary let Lucy go in."

"Oh."

Now Eric decided to speak. "I'm worried she won't let in myself or Annie. Sometimes Mary can be stubborn that way."

"Yeah," Carlos and Wilson both said in unison, then stared at each other.

"And you can't even meet Mary in the privacy of her bedroom. They have a special meeting room. You have to go into where they can watch her. The security here is quite strict."

"Yeah, Carlos wasn't too happy about that," Annie said.

"I can imagine," said Wilson. "If I wanted to have a conversation with Corey- that's my wife," he clarified for Carlos's benefit, so that Carlos would know that Wilson did, indeed, have a significant other than was not Mary, "I wouldn't want to do it in public."

"I don't," Carlos said, "but I need to speak with her now. It's been too long without us talking. It's not good."

-

Lucy came out about fifteen minutes after Wilson arrived. She didn't look too happy when she came out, so everyone seemed concerned. Lucy seemed to perk up when she saw Wilson sitting there, but then frowned once again when she remembered Carlos was sitting on the other side.

"So?" asked Eric.

"Well, she's refusing to see you and Mom. She says she doesn't want to have to deal with you right now and it would be bad for her mental health."

"How is she?" asked Carlos.

"Fine. Slightly angry." Lucy turned to Carlos. "She's really nervous about seeing you and she didn't mean for her letter to make you come all the way out here like this."

"She's my wife. I needed to come."

"Did she seem weird from any of the medication or anything? Because I've heard-"

Lucy cut her mother off. "No. She was pretty much Mary."

Wilson smiled at that, but Carlos just frowned even more. He didn't know what Mary's family felt they were accomplishing my continually describing her in that way, but it never helped her. Mary hated the way they thought of her as this thing that could never be fully understood. Wilson smiled because he knew what they meant. He knew how she could get. He guessed how she was acting now, and it was very Mary-like. She had a distinct personality about her and that was what he had always been attracted to. She wasn't like any other woman.

"But," Lucy continued. "The meeting room thing is empty, so it's pretty private. Either there aren't a lot of patients here or no one gets visitors because that room was dead."

When Lucy finished her sentence, the waiting room attendant approached. "Which one of you should I ask Mary to see next?"

"Me," said Carlos.

"Actually," Wilson spoke up against his better judgment, "I would like to go before you if you don't mind. I won't be very long. Then you can sit and talk with Mary for however long you need to."

Carlos went to say something to Wilson, and then decided against it. He would rather he have the last word in with Mary anyway. He wanted to be the last person she remembered seeing that day, not this clown who had his own wife and that kid he had when he was a teenager. "Fine. You can go. I don't mind."

"Thank you. I promise I won't be long."

"And you would be, sir?"

"Wilson. Wilson West."

"All right Mr. West. I'll send someone to check with Mary."

The clan waiting for that thin woman with so much power got very tense. No one was able to predict Mary's moods since she had started to act differently, so there was no assurance that she would want to see Wilson. That made the situation in the room even more strained than it was before.

Five minutes later, the waiting room attendant came back to Wilson smiling. He knew that he was in.

"Mary said that she would like to see you. You can follow me."

Wilson followed the woman to a room that was just next door. It was all white, unlike the room he had been in previously, and it had chairs and tables scattered around. A few board games were in the corner, but they had so much dust on them that Wilson was sure they had to be just for show.

Mary was the only one sitting in a room and when she saw him come in, she attempted to smile. This whole process was killing her because she knew that everyone that cared about her was waiting next door, and she couldn't leave with them even if she wanted, but it was nice to get the opportunity to see them all the same.

Wilson sat in the chair next to Mary and smiled. "How are you doing, Mare?"

"I could be better."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah."

The two sat there for a few minutes not saying anything. They had a ton of things they wanted to say, but nothing seemed quite appropriate for the moment.

"So..." said Wilson.

"So."

"I guess you weren't expecting me."

Mary smiled for the first time in a while. "Yes I was. Maybe not right this second, but eventually. You wouldn't just bring me to this point and then leave me to fend for myself. I know you."

"No, I wouldn't. Corey sure wanted me to. But I couldn't. Your parents seemed less than caring about this whole situation and I know that things with your husband had been strained, so I wasn't sure if you had anyone looking in on you."

"I didn't, really, but thank you." Mary paused. "So did you meet him? I assume Carlos is out there."

"Yes, I did and yes, he is."

"What do you think of him?"

"Honestly?"

"Yeah. Because," Mary paused to swallow, "because I'm not sure how I think of him anymore. I really messed things up."

"I think he's a decent guy, Mare. If he wasn't, he wouldn't have traveled all the way out here just to check up on you." Wilson knew Mary was looking for more information, so he continued. "He's very protective over you, too. He found out who I was and he looked like he wanted to kill me."

Mary laughed. "Yeah, that's Carlos."

"So don't worry about him. He still loves you."

"I don't know why. I'm a complete idiot."

"You are not. Don't be putting yourself down like that. You're an intelligent person who has some problems you need to deal with. There's no shame in that."

"I don't know about that. Seeing you come here, seeing Lucy, knowing Carlos is out there, it makes me feel weak."

"How so?"

"I'm weak for having to ask for help, for not being able to do it on my own."

"There's absolutely nothing wrong with getting help. Don't view it in such a negative light. Think of it in a positive way. You'll come out of this place better than ever."

"You think?"

"Yeah, you'll be a new and improved Mary." He continued. "I think that, if anything, you'll be stronger, not weaker."

"But Carlos and my family won't think so."

"Since when did you care what other people think?"

"Since other people started to think I was crazy."

"I don't think you're crazy."

"But I am. I have schizophrenia. I'm on medications for it and everything."

"Schizophrenia?" Wilson was shocked. "Are they sure?"

"That's what I said," said Mary. "But, evidently, they're right. I've asked around. The hallucinations. That's what did me in."

"What did you hallucinate about, anyway? You know, besides that bird."

Mary giggled. "That was weird, let me tell you." Her tone and face changed to be more serious. "Carlos. I saw him sitting next to me. He'd talk to me. He was the one who told me to kill myself, to jump off of the porch."

Wilson looked at Mary seriously. "That had to be rough."

"It was. It is." She sighed and tears began to form in her eyes. "I don't know if I can see him. I'm afraid I'll get mad at him for things he didn't do or that the hallucinations will come back once he leaves."

"If you don't want to see him, you don't have to," Wilson tried to reassure her.

"No, no. I do. I can't wait to see him. I'm just afraid as to what might happen when he walks in here."

"Then you have to meet that fear head on. If something bad happens, you deal with it. But you can't make your life be stagnant when you want to move forward so desperately."

"But-"

"No 'buts'. Just do it; embrace life."

Mary smiled. "Did anyone ever tell you how smart you are?"

"Once or twice, but it's good to hear."

"Well, you're a smart man, Wilson. Smarter than I think anyone gives you credit for."

"Well, thank you."

"Speaking of..."

"Yes?"

"How are things going with Corey?" asked Mary. "She must not have been too happy with you rescuing me like you did last Thursday."

"No, she wasn't. And she was even less happy about my coming here, but I think she's starting to get used to it. Too bad it's over with now."

Mary smiled forlornly. "Too bad, yeah."

-

Carlos started pacing back and forth in the waiting room. It had been way longer than ten minutes, and Carlos was beginning to go nuts himself. He envisioned Mary and Wilson doing all sorts of obscene things in that room where they were, wherever that was. Carlos was so close to charging through everything and going straight toward Mary, but he knew that would only lead him to trouble, and Carlos didn't want any more trouble in his life. He already had Mary, and she was trouble enough for the both of them. Heck, she was trouble enough for the entire state of California.

-

"So, Mary, are you going to be all right on your own? Can I leave you alone for a little while?"

"Yes, I guess I'll be able to manage without you."

"I'll see you around sometime. You know you won't be able to get rid of me completely."

"I know." Mary reached for Wilson's hand and picked it up. "That's what I like about you."

Wilson stood, pulling Mary up gently by the hand. He pulled her in for a tight hug and, for the first time in a long time, got a feeling from Mary that she would actually be OK. This experience wasn't going to kill her. It would only make her stronger.

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A/N: All right, well, apparently I split up "the good part" into two chapters, so part two of this will be next. I'm sure you all can surmise what the plot will be for that.

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You know you want your very own hug from Wilson. Review for a Wilson Hug Voucher.

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	28. Chapter 28

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Carlos sighed heavily as he waited for Wilson to come back out of the room where Wilson was meeting with Mary so he would be able to go in. He always knew that he was a bit short tempered, but he was about ready to fly off the handle if this guy didn't come out within the next four or five minutes.

Lucky for both Carlos and Wilson, Wilson arrived back in the waiting room within three minutes time. Carlos didn't have to pound him like he had previously thought.

Still, he had to approach him. "You were gone a lot longer than ten minutes. That was more like forty-five."

"I'm sorry, I know. It took longer than I expected it to."

"Are you done with her now?"

"Yeah, you can have your turn."

"No. I mean with Mary in general. I want her back, and I need you to leave her alone."

Wilson, at this point, snapped. His frustration seemed insurmountable. "I'm sick of everyone trying so hard to keep us apart. We're just friends. We like to talk to each other because we can understand each other, and it's nice to talk to someone who is outside of the situation. I'm not promising anything to anyone anymore. If we want to talk, we'll talk. If we don't, we don't. It's not that big of a deal."

Wilson went to walk away, but Carlos walked back to him, slightly stunned by what Wilson had said. Obviously there was more to this than simply Carlos asking him to leave Mary alone. "Do you think there's a chance she'd come back to me?"

"That's up to Mary."

"Fine."

Wilson looked around for the rest of the Camdens but could not find them. "If you see the Camdens, tell them I said good bye and thank you."

"Will do." Carlos said, brushed passed Wilson, and then went to find the waiting room attendant. He approached her at her desk in the front of the room. "Carlos. Carlos Rivera, Mary's husband. Go ask Mary if she'll see me now, please."

"Sure, Mr. Rivera."

The woman waddled out of the room and then came back in in a few short moments. She looked at Carlos, nodded, and then waived her hand for him to come forward. Carlos could feel the gravity of this moment as he followed this woman to the room next door. He found it ironic how disconnected he'd felt to Mary all morning, only for her to be held in captivity a few feet away from him on the other side of some cinder block.

His heart melted when he saw Mary. She was a broken woman. Her face was drawn and sallow, her hair a mess, and she was holding her knees into her chest. She seemed so little and afraid. Carlos wanted nothing more than to walk in, sweep her up in his arms, and take her away from this place. Carlos still could not wrap his head around the fact that Mary was mentally ill, so he placed all of the problems she was having currently on her being stuck in this place. His objective was to make sure she got out of here, not got better.

He approached her slowly, and Carlos watched as Mary drew back in her chair. It saddened him deep to his core to see her act this way. For some reason, this reminded him of women who get beaten by their husbands. This must be how they react when their husband comes home at night- that's how scared Mary was of Carlos.

"Carlos?" her voice was shaky and quiet.

"Mary," he said calmly.

"Come here," she said, and waited for him to walk closer.

He walked in the few feet from the door and stood two feet in front of her.

"No," she said sterner. "Come here." Carlos walked up to about an inch away from the tips of Mary's toes that were hanging off the edge of the chair beneath her.

"Yes?" he said.

Gingerly, Mary peeled her hand off of her knee and reached it outward and to Carlos. She placed her hand gently on his stomach, drew it back as if she were cowering, and then reached out and touched him yet again.

"Are you all right honey?"

"I don't know," she said quietly. "Sit."

He did as she told him to. "Why am I being ordered around, huh?"

"Just hold on," she said. Mary stood up and walked over to what Carlos had only assumed was a big mirror. This must have been how they were being watched. Mary tapped lightly on the fake glass and a young man came out, the same man that told Mary that she needed to stay there for two weeks earlier in her stay.

"Everything all right Ms. Camden?" Carlos heard him use Mary's maiden name from across the room and frowned.

Mary turned back around and looked at Carlos. "Do you see him? Do you see a man sitting there?"

"Yes, I do. Are you all right?"

Mary didn't answer. She did not know herself. "Could you do me a favor?"

"I guess," he responded.

"Can you get Christine in here?"

"Why?"

"I want a second opinion."

The man laughed at her, but only at her frantic nature, not her apparent illness. "Sure, I'll send someone to bring her in."

The man walked back around the glass and Mary turned back to look at Carlos. He stood up and started to walk over to her. Mary panicked.

"Stop," she said in a low and authoritative voice.

"What? What's going on?"

"If you love me," she said, "you'll just sit in that chair and wait a second."

He sat back down in his chair. "Are you all right? Can I help you? I want to help."

Mary thought for a second. Was that something only the real Carlos would say? Maybe. She had to get Christine in there just to make sure. "I-I don't know," she croaked. "Just hold on."

Carlos saw a young girl of about sixteen or seventeen enter through a side door. "Mary? What's going on? Do you have a visitor?" Mary motioned for Christine to come closer to her with her hands and she did. "What?"

Mary pointed back at Carlos. "Do you see him sitting there?"

Christine giggled. "Yes." Christine processed the information and then gasped. "Is that your husband? He came all the way out here just to see you?"

"If you see him, too, then yes."

Christine looked at him, and then looked back at Mary. She was having what Christine could only describe as a panic attack. She put her hands on Mary's shoulders and looked her new friend square in the eye. "He's here. He's really here. Sitting right there. He's wearing a blue t-shirt and black pants, and he's got dark black hair and a scruffy beard. OK? I see him. You're not hallucinating. Now calm down and go over to talk to him. I bet he's got a lot to say."

"But-"

"Do you trust me?"

"Yeah, I guess. I mean, I don't know you all that well, but-"

"He's sitting right there. See, I'll talk to him. Carlos is his name, right?" Mary nodded. "Hi Carlos," Christine said aloud.

Carlos waved back at her, unsure of what was going on. "Hello."

"OK, see? Everything is fine."

Mary sighed. "OK."

"All right. Now got sit back down and talk to him. I'm going back to lunch, OK?"

"OK."

Mary sighed again, letting go of some of the anxiety she had built up. "Thank you. I know I must seem like a moron, but-"

"No, no. I get it. I totally get it." Christine looked back at Carlos, and then over at Mary. "He's hot. Good luck." And she left.

Mary turned back around, shamefaced to her husband. "I'm sorry," she said. "I don't know what else to say besides I'm sorry." Mary walked back to the seat next to Carlos and sat down.

"No," he said. "You apologize for nothing." Carlos was silent before he worked up the courage to speak what he wanted to say. "Can I ask you..."

"Ask me what?" He could have been referring to a billion things.

"Was that, did you think I wasn't real?"

Mary lowered her head. Now she was thoroughly embarrassed. "Before I came here, about a month ago I guess, I started seeing you. Hallucinating. You would just pop out of nowhere and sit down and start talking to me. They were so vivid and so real that I didn't know if you were really you or if I was so stressed out that I was imagining you here."

"Didn't you know I was here? Didn't you say that you wanted to see me?"

"Yes, several times. I just, I didn't know if this was really you."

He started to laugh a little bit.

"You don't understand," she continued. "Imagine this conversation we're having right now, imagine that it's not real. That you come to find out that I'm not really sitting here, that I'm not really talking back to you, and that it's all in your head. Wouldn't it make you question if I were really here or not the next time you saw me?"

"I guess." Carlos saw the sheer terror in Mary's eyes. "Do I scare you that much?"

"A little," she admitted, and began to cry. "I don't want you to, I'm sorry, but I can't help it."

"Do you want me to go? If you can't do this, then I'm not trying to force you. I understand."

She sniveled. "No, I want you here. I need you Carlos. More than anything in the world, I need you. I'm sorry I didn't see that before but I see it now."

He picked up her hand. "I want to make this go away for you."

"I want you to, too," she laughed, "but you can't."

"I don't want to see you in pain- no matter how mad I've been at you these past few months. Once I got your letter most of that was erased."

She sighed heavily. "I'm sorry for that." Mary paused. "But what I'm even more sorry about is that I can't say that I've let go of my anger toward you."

"Why are you angry with me?"

"I don't know. I think it has something to do with my life not working out the way I wanted it to, and I blamed you for that. It wasn't intentional, but I can't shake it."

"So right now, you're mad at me."

"Yes." She squeezed his hand so he wouldn't be able to jerk it away from her. "I'm mad that you didn't come after me when I left. I'm mad that you didn't find out what was gong on with me for months. I'm mad that I'm here."

"You blame me for you being here?"

"They keep telling me not to, but I do. I feel like, if you had tried to patch things up, it wouldn't have gotten to this."

"Mary," he used his reasoning tone of voice. "I say this because I love you. You are not a well woman. Whatever reason you left for, that had to have been the start of all of this. Not after you left; it was why you left. And you're still not better yet."

"I know I'm not. I wouldn't have freaked out on you just now if I was."

Carlos rubbed his thumb over the back of her hand. "So let's change the subject. Who was that girl? A friend of yours?"

Mary nodded. "Christine."

"You two seemed close. Do you share a room or something?"

"No, all the rooms are private. She came and introduced herself the day I got here and we've been talking."

"So what's wrong with her? She seemed normal to me."

"She's anorexic."

"Oh, gosh."

"Yeah."

Mary sighed. "She's not planning on leaving for a while. She's already been here over six months, too."

"How old is she?"

"Nineteen."

"She looks so young."

"It's because she's so little, I think."

"Is she better?"

Mary shrugged. "Yeah, I guess. She eats now. But she doesn't ever want to leave because she's afraid that if she does she'll fall right back into it again." Mary laughed. "It's funny, I feel the exact opposite."

"You think that if you left from here it would fix everything?"

"If I left and I went home with you back to New York, and we worked on our marriage, then yeah. If we fix us, then I'd feel a whole lot better."

"It's going to take longer than a few days to fix this, if we can."

"Wait," said Mary. "If we can?"

"Mary, I can forgive a lot of things, but what you did-"

"You mean with Charlie?"

"Yes."

"Speaking of," Mary said sarcastically, "thanks for telling Sarah. I appreciate that one." Mary seemed genuinely angry.

"What was I supposed to do? You just packed up and left and then said that you wanted a divorce - not from me, your husband- but from your three month old son. I was a little angry with you."

"Carlos-"

"No. I don't care if you're insane. That won't work with me. If you didn't want this baby to begin with then you should have said something before."

"Before when? Before when I was pregnant? Before I got pregnant?"

"I don't know, just before."

"So, if I was pregnant, and I got up one morning and turned to you and said, 'gee, Carlos, I don't think I want to have this baby,' you would have preferred that?"

"At least I would have known."

"You're completely mental!"

"So are you," he said with a laugh.

Mary laughed, too. Carlos let go of her hand and reached up to wipe away some of Mary's tears that had fallen out of her eyes and down her cheeks. Mary leaned against his touch, loving the feeling of his skin on hers. She'd wanted nothing more than that for weeks now. She started to cry again, but this time there were more tears of joy than there were of sadness. Finally, Mary felt like she could breathe again.

"I hate that we're being watched," Carlos mumbled. He felt the energy between them, too. There was no way he couldn't. "Is there anyway we could arrange for a conjugal visit?"

Mary laughed. "I'll see what I can do."

"Good." He pulled back and patted his lap. "Come here."

"But-" she pointed to the two-way glass.

"Oh, quit being such a child. Come here."

Mary moved over to sit on Carlos's lap. He put his hand on her hair and stroked it.

"Thank you for coming to see me."

"What, you expect to send me a letter saying that you've been put into an institution and I'm not going to come? That's ridiculous."

"Where's Charlie?" Mary asked.

"With my parents."

"Great," she said. Carlos's parents didn't like Mary all that much to begin with, and now they must think she's psychotic.

"I didn't tell them. I just said that I needed to do something out here and that I couldn't bring him. I'm sure they know it had to do with you, but not that you're here or anything."

"Thank you."

"I didn't do it for you. I did it for me. I didn't want to have them harping to me about you being an unfit parent."

"Do they know what I did?"

Carlos shook his head. "No. I didn't tell anyone but Sarah." He paused. "Did you tell anyone?"

She diverted her gaze from Carlos. "I told Wilson, but no one else."

"Who is that guy? Why are you talking to him?"

"I told you about him. That guy I dated in high school and then I almost married him."

"He's the one with a kid, right?"

"Yeah."

"I don't like him," said Carlos.

"Why not?"

"Because he was acting like he knew you so well. He doesn't know you."

"And how do you know that?"

"He hasn't seen you for years."

"I haven't changed that much, and it's been less than two years."

"I'm only going to ask you this once," Carlos said seriously. "Did you have a relationship with him while you were out here?"

"What?! No. He's married."

"So he said." Carlos shrugged. "So what. That means nothing." He paused. "Is he happily married?"

"I think he wants to be."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing, Carlos. His life is none of your business."

"If it affects you, it's my business."

Mary rolled her eyes. "Oh, stop already."

"Fine."

"How's Cecily?" Mary asked in the same tone Carlos was using to talk about Wilson.

"Mary-" Carlos quickly became hot under the collar.

"Calm down, I was joking. I told you already. I picked that fight as a way to get out. I saw an opportunity and a grabbed it."

"Why did you want out that badly?" She didn't answer. "Did I do something? Because, whatever it is, I'll try to fix it. You know I love you."

"You still love me? After all of this?"

"Yes, I do. No matter what happened, I could never stop loving you."

"I could never stop loving you, either. Even if I tried."

"Good. I don't want you to."

"I think you should know, though."

"Yes?" she asked.

"I kept Cecily on. She's working even more hours now. I couldn't do it alone and my parents only had so much sympathy for me."

"It's all right," Mary said. "I know nothing is going on between you. And even if it was, I left. You have every right to-"

"Don't even talk like that. You're my wife. I have honor and dignity; I wouldn't betray you like that."

Mary rolled her eyes at Carlos. "You sound like you belong with the Knights of the Round Table."

"Is it wrong to be chivalrous?"

"No." Mary snuggled in closer to him.

"You all right?"

"I have no idea. I wish I did."

"When are you getting out of here?"

"I can sign myself out in two weeks."

"Are you going to?"

She thought for a moment. "I don't know. I've been planning on it, but, honestly, seeing you, and Wilson, and Lucy, it kind of scared me. I might need to stay longer."

Carlos took Mary's face with his hands and stared deep into her eyes. "Whenever you decide you are ready to leave from here, I want you to know that you'll have me to come home to. You get out, you get on the next flight out to JFK, and you come home to me and the baby. Don't give it a second thought."

"Thanks honey. I appreciate your understanding."

"Well, to be honest, I don't understand, but I'm trying. I want to. It's just difficult, you know? I don't know what is going on in your head. Not that I had any idea before, but now-"

"I know. I feel the same way, believe it or not," Mary admitted to him.

He pulled her in closer. "It'll be OK. This won't prevent you from living your life." Mary leaned her head against his shoulder and prodded his earlobe with the tip of her nose. "We can't let it."

"Whatever." Mary didn't believe him.

"All right," he finally said. "I'm all out of things to say. I think I'm going to leave now. I don't want to get you too riled up or anything like that."

"No." Mary clutched onto his shirt. "Please. Don't go."

"Mary."

"Please. Just stay until two o'clock when they kick you out." She started to cry again. "Who knows when I'll get a chance to see you again."

Carlos sighed. "Your parents are waiting for me. They drove me here. I'm sure they want to get back, especially since you refuse to see them."

"And I have good reason. I can't do it right now. It was hard enough having to deal with Lucy and the way she looked at me. They just won't get it."

"They might."

"No." Mary shook her head. "They won't. I'm not even going to try."

He could see that he was upsetting her. "OK. Fine."

"So will you stay? Please?"

"Sure." He pulled her in tighter. "Sure."

The time from 12:35 until 2:00 passed very quickly. Mary and Carlos didn't say one word to each other; they were all talked out. Carlos just clutched Mary so tightly against him. He'd never seen her this scared or this vulnerable before. It frightened him to death. Mary was always such a strong woman. She had a good head on her shoulders, but she was tough in that sexy, tomboy kind of way. Carlos had been instantly attracted to her, once he saw her after she had grown up, that is. Now she was just a shell of the woman he fell in love with. It was sad.

The man from before came from behind the two-way mirror and told Carlos that it was time for him to leave once 2:00 rolled around. Carlos felt Mary clutch onto him even tighter. "Come on, Mary. Let's go." Carlos turned to the man. "Can you give us just a minute?"

He looked reluctant. "I guess so."

"Thank you."

Mary felt like crying, but she held herself together. "I'm going to really need those antidepressants once you leave."

"Don't talk like that."

"Sorry," she said.

Carlos put his hands on her waist. She felt like she had lost some weight. Carlos hoped that that story about Christine wasn't just what was going on with Mary and she was to scared to admit it. Carlos placed a gentle kiss on Mary's cheek. "Te amo."

"I love you, too."

"I'll write to you, OK?"

"OK."

"Now buck up, kid."

Mary laughed through her tears. "If I asked you to kiss me, would that be weird?"

Carlos leaned in and placed his lips on hers, trying to be as sensuous and comforting as he could. "No," he whispered. "It wouldn't."

Mary nibbled on her bottom lip. "Kiss Charlie for me, OK?"

Carlos took a deep breath. It took a lot of maturity for him to be able to suck that up and not make that into a big deal. "OK, I will."

"Good bye," she said.

"Bye."

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A/N: I feel like this chapter had a lot of depth. Carlos had depth. He had struggle, struggle between knowing that Mary was not of sound mind and his lingering, unwavering anger about her forsaking their child. Mary being scared is priceless to me. That's the one and only time you get to see how upset and differently she's acting, how this thing has overcome her.

Next chapter is possibly the last. Last chapter is good, I admit. If you were wondering about Mary/Carlos, that's your chapter. If you're still not keen no them, then I apologize.

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If you don't review, you should cower in fear next time I walk into a room.

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	29. Chapter 29

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Carlos walked out of the room where he saw Mary and back into the waiting room so he could return to Annie, Eric, and Lucy. The look on his face said it all. Mary had really gotten to him. He looked like a soldier just returning from combat. It was an awful sight to see.

"How did it go?" asked Lucy.

"It went fine," Carlos said, "but she's awful." Carlos looked at Mary's parents next. "Has she been like this since she came out here? How could all of you not notice that? She a wreck, a total wreck."

"Don't blame us," said Annie. "You're her husband. You're just as responsible for her as we are."

"Is that what this is about? Who's responsible for her?" Carlos shook his head. "Now I understand why she couldn't see the two of you," he spat. "Well, I'm going to do the responsible thing and go and see if I can talk to her doctor."

"Everything here is confidential. They won't let you talk to anyone," Eric said.

"Have you tried?"

"Well, no."

"Then I'm going to. I have to. I'm worried about her." He sighed. He didn't want to be fighting with Mary's parents, they were just frustrating him so much that it seemed to be unavoidable. "You don't have to wait for me. I assume you want to get back to GlenOak."

Now Lucy chimed in. "No, we'll wait. We want to know how she is, too."

"All right." He nodded at her. "Thank you."

Carlos walked around toward the front of the hospital where there were more people. He thought that the more people he could talk to, the better of an answer he would be able to get. He really hoped they would let him in to talk to someone.

Carlos walked up to a woman in green scrubs. "Hi," he said.

"Hello. Can I help you?"

"I hope so. My wife is a patient here, and I was just wondering if I could talk to a doctor about her, um, mental state?"

"I'm sorry. Patient information is only available to patients."

"Well then could I talk to a doctor about my wife's condition and not my wife herself?"

The nurse sighed. "I guess so. What's your wife's name?"

"Mary...Camden, I think she's listed under."

"All right. Let me look her up." The nurse walked up to a computer and started typing away. "Dr. Perkins. You're in luck, he's the doctor who is on duty today."

"Great," said Carlos.

"Wait here and I'll see if he's busy." The woman left and Carlos stood in the middle of the hallway, waiting for her return. She did in a few minutes and then ushered Carlos into a room that looked like an office, complete with a desk and two chairs in front of it. The doctor was middle aged and mostly bald, except for some grey hair around his ear and the nape of his neck.

"What can I help you with, sir?" He seemed to be a nice man.

"My wife, Mary Camden, was admitted here a week ago and I understand you've been seeing her."

"Yes, I have."

"She's told me that you diagnosed her as being schizophrenic."

"That's classified information, Sir."

"Carlos, you can call me Carlos."

"Fine then." Dr. Perkins nodded. "That's classified information, Carlos. It falls under doctor/patient confidentiality."

"Please, Doctor. I'm really worried about her. I haven't seen her in months and now when I did she was petrified because she wasn't sure if I was real or a hallucination of hers. It was terrifying for me."

"Imagine how your wife must feel."

"I can't," explained Carlos, "because I don't have a very good idea of what's going on. I don't really know anything about it."

"Well, schizophrenia is a psychiatric diagnosis that describes a mental disorder characterized by impairments in the perception or expression of reality and by significant social or occupational dysfunction. A person experiencing schizophrenia is typically characterized as demonstrating disorganized thinking, and as experiencing delusions or auditory hallucinations."

"And what does that mean?"

"It means that those hallucinations Mary refers to is a clear sign of her being schizophrenic. If you're worried about me misdiagnosing her, believe me, I have not."

"Oh, no," Carlos said. "That was not my intent. All I want to know if how she is doing."

"Right now she's pretty stable. She seems to be responding well to medications and therapy, although she did have a bit of a spell last night when her medications were switched."

"They switched her medications accidentally?"

The doctor could see the anger in Carlos's face rising. "No. I changed her medication because she said that one wasn't working for her, but then the new one seemed to make her extremely drowsy."

"Oh, all right. How, how long would you suggest she stay here?"

"I know that Mary wanted to leave after her two weeks were up, but I would not advise that. She's not ready to go out into the real world knowing that she has this condition. It can be very debilitating."

"So how long, would you say?"

"Four to six months. It's going to take that long for her to feel like she has this under control enough where she can change up her situation again and still feel stable."

"That's a long time."

"Schizophrenia is a lifelong illness. She's going to battle this for the rest of her time now."

"What about recovery? Can she recovery?"

"Not really. It depends on the situations she faces and how she deals with them."

"Would I have any effect on her recovery time?'

"You might. Like I said, there are a lot of environmental factors. You would be part of her environment. What I usually tell families is to watch their loved one closely and to try and be as supportive as they can. I know it's not an easy thing to do, but it can be done."

"Will the hallucinations ever go away?"

"We have her on a neuroleptic, which counters her hallucinations, so they should be gone as of now."

"Will she be on that medication for the rest of her life?"

"Most likely some form of it, yes."

"And she will need therapy for the rest of her life?"

"I would suggest it, yes. Unless if she has someone good that she can talk to, someone she is comfortable with."

"Like me?"

"Well, I find that sometimes spouses aren't the best way to go because the person with schizophrenia feels like they are too close to the person, so they can't really communicate what they are feeling adequately. But what you can do, even if she doesn't want to talk about it, is to watch out for her. Changes in behavior are warning signs."

"For what?"

"Usually a psychotic episode. Sometimes another suicide attempt. Maybe her next one would be more serious. But what I should advise is that, now, Mary is always going to need care. Not twenty-four hours, but often. This disease grows exponentially."

"What about our son? We have a six month old boy. Would she be able to take care of him?"

"Yes, but not entirely by herself. Once the boy gets older, this would probably be better, but not until he's about five."

Carlos's head was spinning. "OK. But what about him? Is this hereditary?"

"Yes, but not necessarily. Just because your wife has this does not mean that you son does or will."

"All right."

"And that fear you mentioned when you saw your wife today, that's common among patients with schizophrenia."

"So that won't go away?" Carlos was hoping that would most of all.

"No. It will only get worse."

Carlos lowered his head and then looked back up. "Can't I just take her home then? She moved out on me a few months ago, probably when all of this was starting, and now she was living with her parents. Can't I bring her home and take care of her? If she's this sick, I want to be helping her. She'll need me. I'm her husband."

"It's good that you want to help her, and it's nice of you, but she's better off here." The doctor knew Carlos was overwhelmed. "Look, I think we got it early enough. Hopefully, she'll enter a maintenance period. That's when the most intense symptoms of the illness are controlled by medication, but there may be some milder persistent symptoms. Many people continue to improve during this phase, but at a slower pace. She should be all right."

"OK. Thank you doctor. I think this is about as much as I can stomach for right now. I appreciate your talking with me."

Dr. Perkins handed Carlos a business card. "Here's my card. If you ever have any questions, or if you want to check up on your wife, feel free to call."

Carlos stood up, took the card from the nice man, and shook his hand. "Thank you," he said once again. "This was very helpful."

"No problem. Good luck with things."

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A/N: All right, well, not the last chapter like I had said. Sorry. This information all came from the Internet, from like two or three sources. A lot of it was from some site for family members of people with schizophrenia, which Carlos would be.

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Want to wish Carlos luck? He's going to need it. Review.

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	30. Chapter 30

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Carlos walked outside to the Camden's minivan. He tried to put on as brave of a face as he could when he got back into the car and Eric started up the engine, but it was difficult. He wanted to cry, which he found odd, since he had not cried in a very long while, but that was what he felt would help. Tears would provide him with a much needed emotional release.

"So, did you talk to her doctor?" asked Lucy. She seemed to be the only one who really cared.

"Yes," Carlos said. "Dr. Perkins. He was a nice man."

"And?"

"This is going to kill us," Carlos said simply. It was the only thing he felt would accurately be able to describe the information he had amassed in the past fifteen minutes.

"Why do you say that?"

"Schizophrenia is completely debilitating. She freaked out when she saw me; that was only the start of it. She could end up being like that all the time. I don't know how I'm going to be able to cope with this. Or how she's going to cope."

"Mary's a strong woman," said Eric.

"Yes, she is, but this may be stronger than her. A lot stronger."

-

"How's Mary?" asked Corey. Wilson had just arrived back home.

"Pretty bad. I mean, she was more stable than she was before, but she's even more confused and scared."

"And?"

"And I'm worried about her, but there's nothing I can do." Wilson paused. "Her husband was there."

"All the way from New York City?" Wilson nodded. "How nice of him to take the time out of his busy schedule to check up on his wife."

"Corey."

"What? He left her for dead as far as I could tell. And if you hadn't had such a liking for her, she might have been."

"I didn't stop her from jumping. Reverend Camden did, and then the police. I showed up after she was calmed down."

"Still. Weren't you the one who convinced her she should go to this mental hospital anyway?"

"Kind of."

Corey could tell that Wilson didn't want to take any credit for anything. "Don't be so modest, honey. You helped her out a lot. You have the right to be just the littlest bit proud."

"I guess so."

Billy came bounding into the room with Bernadette. "I heard you went to see Mary."

"Yes, I did."

"How is she?"

"She's pretty sick, but I think she'll be OK. With time, she'll be OK."

"Is she going to die?" he asked quietly. That was the last thing Billy ever wanted. Then his father couldn't ditch Corey and take Mary back.

"No, it's not that kind of sick."

"But she could," interjected Corey. "I mean, if she's that wacko..."

"Don't even kid about that," said Wilson. "That would be horrible."

"Yeah, kind of."

-

The whole rest of the car ride back to GlenOak was silent, except for when Carlos was offered a tissue by Lucy and he thanked her. The doctor had described Mary like she was going to be an invalid for the rest of her life. That, coupled with what Carlos had seen in Mary's eyes that afternoon- he simply couldn't take it.

Carlos thought about all the good times that he and Mary had shared. He recalled the first time he had seen her. She was standing in the middle of an airport terminal just outside of a security checkpoint. He was waiting to pick up his brother, and Mary was waiting until she had to get ready for her next flight out to Houston, Texas. Even though her hair was pulled back into a low and, what Carlos thought, generally unattractive, ponytail, and she wore her plain dark blue uniform shirt and skirt, he was inexplicably drawn to her. He found his feet moving the second he saw her, bringing him right up to her.

_"Hi."_

_"Hi," Mary said. "Do I know you?"_

_"No, but you should."_

_Mary laughed, but continued to study his face. "No, I do know you. Is your name Carlos?"_

_"Yes, it is." Carlos still didn't recognize her._

_"I'm Mary. Camden. You stayed at my house one-"_

_"Christmas. Right." Carlos looked her up and down. "You've grown up."_

_"Yeah," she laughed. "I have. It has been four years."_

_"That's true."_

_"So how have you been? How are things with your family?" Mary remembered that Carlos had been having problems with his father._

_"Things are good. My father let me back into the family business."_

_"Good, I'm glad." Mary didn't know what else to say. "So, are you waiting for someone or are you traveling to somewhere?"_

_"I'm waiting for my brother. His flight's supposed to come in any minute now."_

_"Oh, Ok."_

_"And you're a flight attendant?"_

_"Yup. JetBlue."_

_"Are you leaving?"_

_"Yup. I've got about fifteen minutes until I have to be at my gate to go to Houston."_

_Out of nowhere, Carlos's brother showed up and tapped him on the shoulder. Carlos slunked down when he came. He told his brother to hold on for just a second and turned his attention back to Mary._

_"Are you going to be back in the city after you leave? Do you live here or something?"_

_"I'll be back around 10:00 tonight, but I live in Buffalo."_

_"Oh, because I was wondering if you'd want to go out and get something to eat or whatever."_

_Mary laughed. "Something to eat or whatever?"_

_"Yeah. My brother and I could show you around the city tonight. It's at its best in the dark."_

_Mary laughed. "Well, at 10:00 I was just going to fly home, but there's another flight at 4:00 AM I guess I could take."_

_"You're serious?"_

_"Yeah, if you were serious about showing me around. I've only actually been out into the city two times."_

_"Then you haven't lived. Diego and I, that's my brother, we'll show you." Carlos reached into his pocket and pulled out a modest business card. "My number. I'll be back right here at 10:00 tonight."_

_She smiled at him, a genuine smile that made Carlos feel complete inside. "All right. See you then."_

Carlos wiped his eyes again. He felt like a little girl, but he only cared a little bit. He knew the Camdens would not understand, though. For the amount of the emotions that went flying around their family, you'd think that someone would care a little more about Mary. She was their own flesh and blood.

"Carlos, are you crying?" Eric observed.

Carlos sniveled. He had been caught. "No."

"Was this that bad of a trip? I thought it went quite well."

"Because you didn't see her. Lucy, tell them."

"Dad, she's not well. She was scary, and I think we need to be more sensitive to her needs and Carlos's."

"We try," said Annie, "but it's hard when Mary won't let us in. We push and push and all she does is push us away."

"You have to gain her trust," Carlos said. He was eager to speak up in her defense. "Mary's not just going to let you in. You have to gain her trust and let her know that it's OK for her to share things with you. Otherwise she won't."

_"So..." Carlos said. It was their third unofficial date, and their first one that was just the two of them and not with Carlos's brother, Diego._

_"Yes?"_

_"Are you having a good time?"_

_She smiled and picked up his hand. "Yeah, I am."_

_"Well, good."_

_Mary started to roam her eyes around the restaurant._

_"What's going on with you?" Carlos asked. Three dates, and he already knew her well enough to know she was trying to hide something._

_"I've been thinking about moving in to New York. The city."_

_"Really?"_

_"Yup." She smiled, since Mary didn't get the feeling that he thought she was crazy._

_"And where will you live?"_

_"Well, anything free in your building?"_

_Carlos smiled. "Yeah. You can share my bed."_

_She laughed, genuinely. Carlos loved it when she laughed. It was his favorite part about her. "Yeah, that'll happen."_

_"I'm serious."_

_"One real date and you want me to move in with you?"_

_"Why not?"_

_"Because that's insane."_

_"So? That's insane, I'm insane, you're insane, we're all insane. Why should that matter?" She didn't answer him, she just swirled her Coke around in her glass. "What, are you scared or something?"_

_"No." She laughed nervously. "Kind of. Is it OK to say that you scare me?"_

_"Well, you don't scare me."_

_"I don't?"_

_"Nope. You're harmless. I know you're harmless."_

_"That's where you are wrong, Mister." She took a swig of her soda like it were alcohol. "I've done plenty of harm to plenty of people."_

_"Like who?"_

_"Like... my parents, my siblings, any guy I ever dated."_

_"So you expect me to be one of those guys? Or are you just telling me to watch out?"_

_She shrugged. "Probably more of a word of caution than anything else."_

"Oh Carlos, quit your blubbering," said Eric. "She's not dead. She's just in a hospital. You're a wimp!"

Carlos hung his head. "I know. She'll be fine. Everything will be fine."

"Hey, that's my line," Eric said. "I always say that 'everything will be fine'."

"And, in general, you're right when you say that?"

"Usually, yes."

"Then tell me again."

Eric groaned. "Everything will be fine, Carlos. Mary will be fine. You have nothing to worry about."

_"I can't believe we're going to elope," Mary whispered into Carlos's ear. They were on the way to the chapel._

_"Remember when you were talking about insane? This is insane. Not you moving in with me. Getting married after four dates."_

_"Two," she corrected him. "It was only two real dates when it was just us."_

_"Fine."_

_Mary snuggled up even closer to Carlos than she already was. "Goin' to the chapel and we're, gonna get ma-a-a-ried." Mary sang softly into his ear, and then nibbled on it seductively._

_"I didn't know you could sing."_

_She giggled. Mary was in a giggly mood. "A little bit, yes."_

_"I think you have a beautiful voice."_

_"Why thank you. Maybe one day _you _can sing for _me_."_

_He laughed heartily. "I doubt you want to hear me sing to you."_

_"No, I do. Really. Even if you're tone deaf."_

_"How'd you know I was tone deaf?"_

_Mary giggled again, and then rested her head on his right shoulder. "Do you want to have a family?"_

_"Yes." He paused. "Do you?"_

_"Yes, of course."_

_"How many?" Carlos asked, referring to the number of children Mary wanted to have._

_"I used to want a bunch, but now I'd be happy with two. You?"_

_"Two sounds nice. Anything sounds nice, as long as it's me and you."_

_"You're sweet."_

_"I know."_

_Mary hit his side playfully. "I take that back."_

_Carlos laughed some more. "Thank you."_

_"Don't mention it."_

_"I won't, don't worry."_

_Carlos laughed yet again. He couldn't help it. "We act like children, you know that?"_

_"Yeah, I do. Does that bother you?"_

_"Not at all."_

_"So, do you want to start tonight, with the having kids thing?" Mary asked him._

_"You do know it takes longer than one night to give birth to a baby."_

_"Shut up! Yes, I do. I was just asking if-" If he wanted to start trying to conceive that night, or wait until later._

_"It's your body, and you're still so young. It's up to you."_

_Mary turned and looked deep into Carlos's eyes. He would never forget that sober yet loving look. "I'd rather wait a little bit. This is all so quick that, I don't know. I think it would be smarter if we waited for a little while. Took some time to adjust."_

_Carlos kissed her cheek. "That's fine, sweetie," he said._

_"Good." Carlos noticed her turning a pale shade of red. "But I am looking forward to tonight."_

_"This is all this is about for you, isn't it?"_

_"What? Sex?" Mary tried to play off being cool, but she knew how embarrassed she was by the whole thing._

_"Yes."_

_"Eh, maybe," she conceded._

_"I knew it."_

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**THE END**

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A/N: Last chapter! Wahoo! I like this one. The end came from when Ruthie was talking about something in Season 9, the beginning flashback from Mary's story about how she met Carlos again in Season 8. Eric going crazy was more me wanting to be done than anything else.

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If you're still around now, thanks for sticking with me through my infrequent updates. NaNo 2006! What fun it was!

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